First Financial Corp IN Takes Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $1,203,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $1,081,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $294,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter worth $211,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI remained flat at $28.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 1,517,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,299,350. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.39 and a 200-day moving average of $27.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.56. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $29.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. Analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of NiSource in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.