NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Purchased by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,760 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in NiSource by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,444 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at about $511,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,000,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,653,000 after acquiring an additional 3,186 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,741,713 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,350,000 after acquiring an additional 64,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 231.0% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 46,702 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 32,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.13.

NiSource Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE NI traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.35. 4,155,745 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,437,851. The company has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.25 and a 52-week high of $41.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.