Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Takes Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 34,136 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,369,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 220,962 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,084,000 after purchasing an additional 8,690 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 87,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,228,000 after purchasing an additional 25,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,375 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 6,695 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at $944,760.18. The trade was a 13.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on NI shares. Barclays upped their price target 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. UBS Group upped their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock traded up $0.39 on Thursday, hitting $39.85. 3,664,166 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,131,123. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.83 and a 12 month high of $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.97 and a 200 day moving average of $38.39. The stock has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. 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 firm earned $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is 60.54%.

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.