Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 10,198 Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 305.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 10,198 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $785,563,000 after buying an additional 1,965,334 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $419,765,000 after acquiring an additional 700,747 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 185.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $339,837,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. 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 increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total transaction of $152,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $944,760.18. The trade was a 13.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NiSource Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NI stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.26. 4,725,887 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,142,761. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $39.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.43. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $28.08 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The stock has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 14.67%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.54%.

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.