IFM Investors Pty Ltd Sells 3,314 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd trimmed its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,314 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in NiSource were worth $6,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NI. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at $43,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on NI shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.29.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $34.82 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.89 and its 200-day moving average is $30.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.58 and a 52 week high of $35.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 65.03%.

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.