NEOS Investment Management LLC Buys 17,033 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 103.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,461 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,033 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $1,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 793.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,609,000 after acquiring an additional 784,495 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $24,642,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

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NiSource Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.54. The company had a trading volume of 1,214,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,013,360. The stock has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.99. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.26 and a one year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.