Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Purchases 50,990 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 59.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,493 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 50,990 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 436,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,115,000 after acquiring an additional 26,572 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at $234,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 249.6% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 61,251 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 13,171 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NI traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.09. The company had a trading volume of 5,460,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,914,759. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.59 and a twelve month high of $40.22. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.54. The stock's 50 day moving average is $37.42 and its 200-day moving average is $35.60.

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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is 69.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.13.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.