Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Increases Stock Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 248,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,162 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $10,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 234,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,390,000 after buying an additional 53,972 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in NiSource by 90.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 80,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,223,000 after purchasing an additional 38,237 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,556,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in NiSource by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 358,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,371,000 after purchasing an additional 43,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 1st quarter worth approximately $710,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on NI. Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.44.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI opened at $43.27 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $20.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.09 and a 200-day moving average of $40.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NiSource, Inc has a 52 week low of $34.23 and a 52 week high of $44.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 59.57%.

About NiSource

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.