Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,243,984 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 255,348 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.50% of NiSource worth $77,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 2.1% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 12.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank raised its position in NiSource by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 53,719 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,548,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 62,589 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,803,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.6% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 14,291 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI traded up $0.97 on Friday, reaching $35.97. 4,630,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,155,614. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $24.61 and a one year high of $36.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $34.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.35.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. Analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.24%.

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.