Private Advisor Group LLC Has $397,000 Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 45.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,127 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.13.

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NiSource Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.16 on Friday, hitting $38.44. The stock had a trading volume of 10,560,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,296,486. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.08 and a 200 day moving average of $36.14. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.04 and a twelve month high of $41.44. 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 capitalization of $18.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% 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.