Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes $5.34 Million Position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. has acquired a new stake in NiSource, Inc, purchasing 133,114 shares valued at approximately $5.34 million during the first quarter.
• NiSource reported earnings of $0.22 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.21, along with a quarterly revenue of $1.16 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.6%, with the payment scheduled for November 20th.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 133,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,337,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,522,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in NiSource by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 493,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,147,000 after buying an additional 6,096 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,665,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $61,209,000 after buying an additional 312,943 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NI. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.56.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.93. 3,727,156 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,366,566. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $31.70 and a 1-year high of $43.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.74 and a 200-day moving average of $39.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. Analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is 59.57%.

NiSource Profile

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.