AlphaQuest LLC Has $935,000 Stake in NiSource, Inc $NI

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 45.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,685 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,160,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,828,000 after buying an additional 106,142 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 376,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,192,000 after buying an additional 18,138 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 344,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,887,000 after buying an additional 90,667 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 8,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 1,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 181.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $43.69 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.77. 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 $20.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $34.23 and a 12 month 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The business 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on NiSource from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Saturday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.78.

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.