CIBC Asset Management Inc Grows Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 2.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,159 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth about $896,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 580,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,724,000 after acquiring an additional 4,032 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its holdings in NiSource by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 206,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,942,000 after buying an additional 47,786 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in NiSource by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 287,820 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,292,000 after buying an additional 37,712 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Trading Down 0.6 %

NI stock opened at $33.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $33.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.93. The firm has a market cap of $14.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho began coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.00.

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.