NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,425 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NI. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 3,195 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in NiSource by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,181,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,910,000 after purchasing an additional 10,489 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 458,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,317,000 after purchasing an additional 66,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 7,661 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Up 1.3 %

NI opened at $34.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.63. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.86 and a 12-month high of $34.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.21.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.43.

NiSource Profile

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.