V Square Quantitative Management LLC Reduces Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 516 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth about $748,000. Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,850,000 after buying an additional 16,364 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,720,000 after buying an additional 483,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth about $3,068,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $39.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.09 and a 200-day moving average of $35.33. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.45 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 67.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.13.

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.