Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. Sells 3,611 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. reduced its position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 324,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,611 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.07% of NiSource worth $13,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 9,626 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in NiSource by 64.2% during 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4,674.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 871,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,933,000 after acquiring an additional 853,107 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 9.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 968,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,834,000 after acquiring an additional 80,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 107,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,327,000 after purchasing an additional 6,731 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.38.

NiSource Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE NI opened at $43.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.23. 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 12 month low of $33.65 and a 12 month high of $43.71.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 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.