BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 60.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,304 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in NiSource during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in NiSource during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $34.38 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.86 and a twelve month high of $34.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.74.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.08 billion during 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on NI. 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. Barclays increased their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Mizuho initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.