7,314 Shares in NiSource, Inc $NI Bought by Petrus Trust Company LTA

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA has acquired 7,314 shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI), valued at approximately $293,000 in the first quarter.
• NiSource reported earnings of $0.22 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, scheduled for payment on November 20th.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on NiSource, with an average price target of $43.11, indicating a sentiment of "Moderate Buy" among eight out of ten analysts.

Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in NiSource by 48.8% in the first 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 during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in NiSource by 3.9% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC raised its position in 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 during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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 during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,379,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,065. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.05. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59. NiSource, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $33.32 and a fifty-two week high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.88.

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.