Leeward Investments LLC MA Sells 102,377 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Leeward Investments LLC MA trimmed its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 20.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 395,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 102,377 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA owned about 0.09% of NiSource worth $13,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 18,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 0.9% in the third quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 59,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its position in shares of NiSource by 16.1% in the third quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 33,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 4,613 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 2.1% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Old North State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $309,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NI. Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $35.17 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.58 and a 1 year high of $35.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. NiSource’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 64.24%.

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.