LifeWealth Investments LLC Takes $358,000 Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

LifeWealth Investments LLC bought a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NI. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in NiSource by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,303 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in NiSource by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 31,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its holdings in NiSource by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 5,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.49. 6,150,858 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,160,785. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $18.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.25. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.83 and a 52-week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 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.