NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Creative Planning

Creative Planning trimmed its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 54.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,865 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 57,254 shares during the period. Creative Planning's holdings in NiSource were worth $1,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in NiSource by 146.2% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in NiSource by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $96,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353,977 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL bought a new position in NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $34,419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,519,823,000 after acquiring an additional 991,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 118.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,449,000 after acquiring an additional 876,033 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NI. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.63.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.13. The stock had a trading volume of 6,105,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,043,333. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.95. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.58 and a 52 week high of $35.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.03%.

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.