Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $6.66 Million Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in NiSource, Inc by 13.7%, owning a total of 166,000 shares valued at approximately $6.66 million after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the first quarter.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.28 will be paid on November 20th, with a dividend yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 59.57%.
• Analysts have mixed views on NiSource, with eight analysts rating it as a "Buy" while two have rated it as a "Hold," applying an average target price of $43.11.

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 13.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in NiSource were worth $6,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 48.8% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 3.9% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 50,416 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,303 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NI. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NiSource currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.11.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $40.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $41.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $33.03 and a 1 year high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. NiSource's payout ratio is 59.57%.

NiSource Company 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.

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