Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda Acquires New Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 62,078 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,282,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 110.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at $748,000. Thomasville National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 16,364 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,720,000 after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $38.87 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.04 and a twelve month high of $41.44.

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NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors 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%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.

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