80,394 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Bought by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 80,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake 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 period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in NiSource by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI traded down $1.00 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $38.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,256,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,153,876. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.60 and a 1-year high of $41.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $39.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.91. The firm has a market cap of $18.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS 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 issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.