Yaupon Capital Management LP Buys 145,084 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Yaupon Capital Management LP increased its stake in NiSource, Inc by 19.2%, now owning approximately 900,290 shares valued at about $36.1 million.
• NiSource announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.8% and the payment scheduled for November 20th.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on NiSource, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $43.11, despite some downgrades in recent reports.

Yaupon Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 19.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 900,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 145,084 shares during the period. NiSource makes up about 1.8% of Yaupon Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Yaupon Capital Management LP owned about 0.19% of NiSource worth $36,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NI. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew 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 in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 44.7% in the 1st 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 period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of NiSource by 57.3% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of NiSource by 39.4% in the 1st 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 period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.88.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock traded down $0.13 during midday 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 3,861,427. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $33.32 and a 1-year high of $43.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company 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 cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 2.78 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. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

NiSource 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.