Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Acquires 9,702 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 294,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in NiSource were worth $10,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NI. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 12.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 4.1% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NI shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company 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 Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $37.88 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.92 and its 200 day moving average is $35.06. The company has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 twelve month low of $24.80 and a twelve month high of $38.83.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.88%.

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.