NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC

White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 97.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,545 shares during the quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,303 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its stake in NiSource by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 31,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in NiSource by 5.6% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on NI. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.01. 3,073,894 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,162,775. The business's 50 day moving average is $39.07 and its 200-day moving average is $38.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.60 and a 1 year high of $41.45. The company has a market capitalization of $18.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.