Washington Trust Bank Sells 6,160 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Washington Trust Bank decreased its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 205,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,160 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in NiSource were worth $7,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NI. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 7.1% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.6% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after purchasing an additional 57,658 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 26.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,036,000 after purchasing an additional 164,532 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.5% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 598,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,551,000 after purchasing an additional 20,060 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 47.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 647,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,923,000 after purchasing an additional 209,451 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on NI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NiSource stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 50,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,027,450. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $16.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.58 and a 1-year high of $35.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.23.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.24%.

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.