Versant Capital Management Inc Grows Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 29.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in NiSource were worth $165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 185.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,837,000 after buying an additional 6,001,486 shares during the period. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,977,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $195,745,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in NiSource by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $944,760.18. This represents a 13.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NI. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Up 1.3%

NI stock opened at $39.49 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.28. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.83 and a 12 month high of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $18.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

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.