Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Trims Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management reduced its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 310 shares during the quarter. NiSource accounts for approximately 0.7% of Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in NiSource by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 133,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,900,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in NiSource by 203.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 101,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,713,000 after buying an additional 67,759 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 735,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,034,000 after acquiring an additional 21,612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $36.70 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. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54.

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

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.24%.

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.