Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Acquires 1,751 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,751 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Thomasville National Bank increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 53,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of NiSource by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 62,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 14,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam grew its position in shares of NiSource by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 2,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE NI opened at $35.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.58 and a 12 month high of $35.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.05 and a 200-day moving average of $30.95.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NI. 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 report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.63.

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.