Bridgefront Capital LLC Invests $243,000 in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NI. CWM LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in NiSource by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc increased its holdings in NiSource by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc now owns 11,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 18,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eaton Vance Management boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 100,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,530,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NiSource to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.17.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $27.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.46. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.78 and a 12 month high of $32.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 11.13%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 27th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.82%.

NiSource Company Profile

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NiSource, Inc is a holding company, which engages in energy solutions. Through its subsidiaries, it provides natural gas, electricity, and other products and services. It operates through the following segments: Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The Gas Distribution Operations segment focuses on natural gas service and transportation for residential, commercial, and industrial customers.