Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $7.44 Million Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 156,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,436,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter worth $2,613,234,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in NiSource by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 891,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,228,000 after purchasing an additional 262,483 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $336,852,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its stake in NiSource by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 5,424,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,537,000 after buying an additional 415,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in NiSource by 320.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 65,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 50,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of NiSource from $51.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on NiSource in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.64.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $40.94 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $38.45 and a 1-year high of $49.21.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 13.20%.The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 37,509 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $1,590,381.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 78,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,329,544.80. The trade was a 32.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NiSource Profile

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.