Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Increases Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs increased its holdings in NiSource by 88.9% in Q1, owning approximately 5.53 million shares valued at $221.9 million.
• Other investors, including Vanguard and T. Rowe Price, also increased their stakes in NiSource, with a combined 91.64% of the stock held by institutional investors.
• NiSource recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, expected to be paid on November 20th, with a yield of 2.7%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 88.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,535,924 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,605,923 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.18% of NiSource worth $221,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 234,234 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,390,000 after purchasing an additional 53,972 shares during the period. Lincoln Capital Corp acquired a new stake in NiSource in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,556,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in NiSource by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 358,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,371,000 after purchasing an additional 43,947 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in NiSource by 90.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 80,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,223,000 after acquiring an additional 38,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.00. 2,379,899 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,861,427. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business's fifty day moving average price is $41.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.05. The company has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $33.32 and a 12-month high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NI. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.88.

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.