Arkadios Wealth Advisors Makes New $251,000 Investment in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NI. Lincoln Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth $2,556,000. Capital International Inc. CA acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $34,612,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 358,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,371,000 after purchasing an additional 43,947 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,955,000. Finally, Finward Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $1,097,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $701,035.21. This represents a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NI shares. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday. Guggenheim upped their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.70.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.26. 3,851,050 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,560,148. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock's fifty day moving average is $40.38 and its 200 day moving average is $39.44. The stock has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $30.66 and a 12 month high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

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.