422,261 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 422,261 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,522,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of NiSource as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NI. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in NiSource by 5.2% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,444 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $511,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 8.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 65,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,103 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.0% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 586,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,313,000 after acquiring an additional 5,757 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,330,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $46,095,000 after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $38.89.

NiSource Trading Down 1.0 %

NI stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.18. 10,561,717 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,705,532. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.26 and a 52-week high of $41.45. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $38.67 and a 200-day moving average of $36.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

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.