Scientech Research LLC Invests $740,000 in 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 Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 18,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Larson Financial Group LLC grew 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 50,416 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,303 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on NI shares. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.88.

NiSource Stock Down 0.3%

NI traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.00. 2,379,899 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,794,065. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $41.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $33.32 and a 12-month high of $43.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. Analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid 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%.

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.