Graham Capital Management L.P. Acquires New Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in NiSource, Inc., purchasing 243,814 shares valued at approximately $9,775,000, which represents 0.05% of the company's stock.
• NiSource reported earnings of $0.22 per share for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue of $1.16 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.7%, payable on November 20th to stockholders of record by October 31st.

Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 243,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,775,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.05% of NiSource at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in NiSource by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in NiSource by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,370 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in NiSource by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NiSource stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,807,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,496,031. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $41.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.02. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $33.03 and a 1 year high of $43.51. The company has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.60.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued 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 (DPR) is 59.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NI. Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.56.

About NiSource

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.