NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by 1834 Investment Advisors Co.

1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 19.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,106 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 54.0% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 201,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,964,000 after buying an additional 70,487 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 53.1% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 366,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,048,000 after buying an additional 127,236 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 2.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,130,000 after buying an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 20.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,857,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,825,000 after buying an additional 310,146 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,199,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,881,572. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.25. The stock has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.56. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.86 and a 1 year high of $29.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

Insider Activity

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of NiSource in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.20.

NiSource Company 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.