State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 122,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth $31,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the first quarter valued at $43,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the second quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NI shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $32.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.56. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.86 and a twelve month high of $33.01.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.28%.

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.