Yousif Capital Management LLC Buys 25,784 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,784 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $3,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE NI traded up $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.79. 7,425,520 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,745,633. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.80 and a 12-month high of $38.99. The firm has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.88%.

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.