Intech Investment Management LLC Grows Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in NiSource, Inc by 122.8%, acquiring an additional 72,260 shares to hold a total of 131,081 shares valued at approximately $5.25 million.
• Several other institutional investors also enhanced their positions in NiSource, with noteworthy increases including MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust by 64.2% and Brooklyn Investment Group by 57.3% during the same quarter.
• Analyst ratings for NiSource have varied recently, with some firms downgrading their ratings, while a majority still rate it as a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $43.88.

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 122.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 131,081 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 72,260 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $5,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 64.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 48.8% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 44.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 57.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,370 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 39.4% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research raised 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 note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.88.

NiSource Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:NI traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $40.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,361,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,065. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $41.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.05. 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 twelve month low of $33.32 and a twelve month high of $43.51. The stock has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period last 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders 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 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.