Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 67,759 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 203.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 101,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,759 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Creative Planning raised its holdings in NiSource by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 105,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in NiSource by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 69,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter worth about $47,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter worth about $2,964,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in NiSource by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 91,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,166,000 after buying an additional 5,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

NiSource Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NI opened at $37.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.72. 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 12 month low of $24.80 and a 12 month high of $38.83.

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

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.24%.

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.