1834 Investment Advisors Co. Reduces Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

1834 Investment Advisors Co. reduced its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,574 shares during the quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $35.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.20. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.58 and a 1 year high of $35.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. NiSource’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Barclays increased their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

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.