State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $4.89 Million Stock Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 14.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 121,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,012 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in NiSource by 29.9% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 234,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,390,000 after buying an additional 53,972 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in NiSource by 90.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 80,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,223,000 after buying an additional 38,237 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp acquired a new position in NiSource during the first quarter worth approximately $2,556,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in NiSource by 179.3% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 60,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 38,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in NiSource during the first quarter worth approximately $710,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NiSource stock opened at $43.69 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.24 and its 200-day moving average is $40.77. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $34.23 and a 12 month high of $44.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Saturday. Barclays boosted their price target on NiSource from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded NiSource from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.78.

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.