Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Acquires 8,976 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Miller Howard Investments Inc. increased its stake in NiSource, Inc by 3.6%, owning a total of 255,820 shares valued at approximately $10.32 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• NiSource recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, payable on November 20th, representing an annual yield of 2.8%.
• Research analysts have mixed ratings on NiSource, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $43.88, while some firms have downgraded their ratings recently.

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 255,820 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,976 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned 0.05% of NiSource worth $10,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crumly & Associates Inc. boosted its position in NiSource by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 18,274 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 50,416 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in NiSource by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.88.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.39. 1,372,262 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,497,812. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $33.65 and a 12-month high of $43.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.63 and a 200-day moving average of $40.07.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

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.