O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Purchases 18,392 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 67.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,552 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,392 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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NiSource Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $38.13. The company had a trading volume of 928,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,119,171. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.26 and a 12-month high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS 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 last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is 69.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NI. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.33.

NiSource 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.