EntryPoint Capital LLC Invests $443,000 in NiSource, Inc $NI

EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 11,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 48.8% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.9% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI opened at $42.5080 on Thursday. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $32.10 and a 52-week high of $43.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.75. The firm has a market cap of $20.02 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NI. Zacks Research raised NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.56.

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.