NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by SIR Capital Management L.P.

SIR Capital Management L.P. lessened its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 21.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 317,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 86,889 shares during the quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $9,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE NI opened at $33.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.02. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $33.56. The company has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.51.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

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.