NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,238 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at $78,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:NI opened at $39.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.25 and a 1-year high of $41.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 period last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.28 dividend. 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 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

About NiSource

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.