Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 31.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,673 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,778 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $419,765,000 after acquiring an additional 700,747 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 30,322 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,297 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in NiSource by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 724,642 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,638,000 after acquiring an additional 158,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 45,552 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 18,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

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NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,153,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,065,153. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.26 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The company has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company's 50-day moving average price is $39.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.09.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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.