Scientech Research LLC Acquires Shares of 18,469 NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake of 18,469 shares in NiSource, valued at approximately $740,000, highlighting growing institutional interest in the company.
• NiSource recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, indicative of a strong cash flow, representing a 2.8% dividend yield.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on NiSource, with Jefferies Financial Group downgrading the stock from "buy" to "hold," while Barclays set a price target of $44.00.

Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 185.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $339,837,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001,486 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,439,236,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050,420 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.4% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,020,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $962,997,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650,827 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth $98,682,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth $71,839,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,379,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,471,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business's fifty day moving average price is $41.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.04. The firm has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $33.32 and a one year high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 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 business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. 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 report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Seven equities 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.88.

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.