Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Buys 9,702 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,702 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned 0.06% of NiSource worth $10,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 326,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,988,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in NiSource by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after buying an additional 10,082 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,033,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,001,000 after buying an additional 33,671 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in NiSource by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 53,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 19,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NI opened at $37.88 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.06. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.80 and a 1 year high of $38.83. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 67.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

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.