Private Trust Co. NA Buys 1,880 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 390.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,880 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in NiSource were worth $95,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 18,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 48.8% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 3.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 3.9% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 50,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Zacks Research raised NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on NiSource from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.78.

NiSource Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE NI opened at $44.11 on Thursday. NiSource, Inc has a 52 week low of $34.23 and a 52 week high of $44.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $20.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.60.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 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.