NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Purchased by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 884,787 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned about 0.19% of NiSource worth $32,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its stake in NiSource by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 31,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its holdings in NiSource by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in NiSource by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

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NiSource Stock Performance

NI stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.84. The company had a trading volume of 4,509,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,710,060. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.72.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.