Hennessy Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 417,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,900 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of NiSource worth $16,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 9,626 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 146.6% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth about $238,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in NiSource by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 253,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,166,000 after purchasing an additional 18,845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.38.

NiSource Price Performance

NI opened at $43.88 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.29. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $33.65 and a 52-week high of $44.18.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly 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. 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 earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s dividend 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.