Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 333 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 347,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,050,000 after acquiring an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $234,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 436,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,115,000 after acquiring an additional 26,572 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1,866.4% during the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 4,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NI. Bank of America began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho began 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.29.

NiSource Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:NI opened at $34.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.58 and a 1-year high of $35.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.77. 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 (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.03%.

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.