New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 410,848 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 59,831 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of NiSource worth $11,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,519,823,000 after purchasing an additional 991,336 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its position in NiSource by 146.2% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $246,388,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,322 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in NiSource by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,525,528 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $226,353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826,202 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,272,420 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $193,083,000 after acquiring an additional 450,818 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 123.6% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092,138 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Mizuho initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NiSource currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.00.

NiSource Price Performance

NiSource stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.62. 3,158,252 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,219,067. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.40. The company has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.86 and a twelve month high of $32.74.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.28%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares of the company's stock, valued at $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Company 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.