Wealthfront Advisers LLC Boosts Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,488 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 29.9% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 234,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,390,000 after buying an additional 53,972 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 90.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 38,237 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth about $2,556,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 38,760 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on NiSource from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

NiSource Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $43.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.84. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $34.23 and a 1 year high of $44.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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