Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 64.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,439 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in NiSource were worth $4,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 249.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,908 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 22,066 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 5.3% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,576 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,479 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in NiSource by 8.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 12.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the third quarter valued at approximately $303,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
NiSource Stock Down 0.4 %
Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.44. 10,560,297 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,296,486. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.04 and a 1 year high of $41.44. The stock's fifty day moving average is $38.08 and its 200 day moving average is $36.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.
NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.
NiSource Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.13.
Read Our Latest Analysis on NI
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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.
About NiSource
(
Free Report)
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.
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