Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC Buys 8,836 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 878,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 8,836 shares during the period. NiSource accounts for about 1.8% of Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC owned 0.19% of NiSource worth $32,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 110.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in NiSource by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $20,850,000 after buying an additional 16,364 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in NiSource by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,720,000 after buying an additional 483,491 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.33.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.12. 1,163,059 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,134,262. 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 1-year low of $27.46 and a 1-year high of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.