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

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 203.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund 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.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $176,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 793.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,609,000 after purchasing an additional 784,495 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.33. The company had a trading volume of 4,410,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,424,737. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $36.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.81. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.80 and a 52 week high of $38.83.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource 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.