Hartford Investment Management Co. Purchases 657 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Hartford Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 26,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 54,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in NiSource by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 294,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,836,000 after buying an additional 9,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 326,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,988,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE NI opened at $39.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.45 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.30.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.14%.

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.