Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Purchases 9,410 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 205,393 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,410 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in NiSource were worth $7,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of NiSource by 1,242.2% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,161 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.21. 3,938,179 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,142,104. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.37. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.46 and a 52-week high of $41.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company's 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is 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.