Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 77,846 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 5.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,365,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 77,846 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $59,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 2,668.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 116.7% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays set a $45.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.20.

NiSource Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $47.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.64. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $35.64 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.89.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

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.