Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $1.10 Million Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,554 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 7.1% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,144,000 after acquiring an additional 29,055 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after buying an additional 57,658 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,036,000 after buying an additional 164,532 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new position in NiSource in the first quarter worth approximately $9,686,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in NiSource by 3.5% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 598,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,551,000 after acquiring an additional 20,060 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on NI shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.67.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI opened at $34.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.15. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.57 and a twelve month high of $35.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.78.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

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.