Finward Bancorp Invests $1.10 Million in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Finward Bancorp bought a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 29,848 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,097,000. NiSource makes up 1.0% of Finward Bancorp's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NI. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in NiSource by 153.2% during 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 period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

NiSource Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:NI traded up $0.26 on Friday, reaching $39.21. 3,938,179 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,135,571. The company has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $39.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.39. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.46 and a 12 month high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company 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.