Vident Advisory LLC Increases Stock Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in NiSource, Inc by 108.1% during Q1, owning 12,007 shares worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 6,236 shares.
• NiSource reported earnings of $0.22 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.01, while revenue matched expectations at $1.16 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, to be paid on November 20th, yielding 2.8% annually with a payout ratio of 59.57%.

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 108.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,007 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,236 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in NiSource by 8.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,577,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $464,155,000 after acquiring an additional 857,653 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in 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 during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in NiSource by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,821,510 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $177,239,000 after acquiring an additional 239,897 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NI traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,379,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,861,427. 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 52-week low of $33.32 and a 52-week high of $43.51. The business's fifty day moving average is $41.54 and its 200 day moving average is $40.05. The firm has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 59.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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