Community Trust & Investment Co. Sells 3,817 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Community Trust & Investment Co. lowered its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,817 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in shares of NiSource by 146.2% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in NiSource by 68.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,353,977 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 991,336 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 118.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after acquiring an additional 876,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

NiSource Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE NI opened at $34.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.60. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.58 and a 12 month high of $35.19.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

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.