AXQ Capital LP Purchases New Position in NiSource, Inc $NI

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $723,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 60.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 30,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 11,452 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in NiSource by 41.6% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 39,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 11,671 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the first quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in NiSource by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 49,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. acquired a new position in NiSource in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,054,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:NI opened at $45.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $38.45 and a 1 year high of $48.98.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 14.15%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NI. Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Evercore set a $52.00 price objective on NiSource in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut NiSource from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on NiSource from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.33.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 10,000 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.19, for a total transaction of $471,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,563,653.81. The trade was a 7.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 15,000 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.68, for a total transaction of $715,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,003.20. The trade was a 29.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,305,675. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.