Picton Mahoney Asset Management Has $10.77 Million Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 42.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 292,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 87,423 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management owned 0.06% of NiSource worth $10,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Aviso Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 31,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 184,642 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,787,000 after purchasing an additional 12,972 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 1,701.3% in the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 117,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,303,000 after buying an additional 110,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,785,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE NI traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $38.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,307,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,658,442. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.42 and a 200 day moving average of $36.50.

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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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.