Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in NiSource were worth $1,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at about $226,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 4.1% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 19,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the second quarter valued at about $504,000. Creative Planning lifted its position in NiSource by 1.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 105,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,028,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 0.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,374,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,636,000 after buying an additional 44,598 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $33.93 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.29. The stock has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.00.

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.