International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases 22,066 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 249.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,908 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,066 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $1,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the second quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.23. The stock had a trading volume of 3,401,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,041,407. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.58 and a twelve month high of $35.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. NiSource's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. On average, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. 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.