Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 100,193 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 400.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 100,193 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in NiSource by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.49. 6,150,858 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,139,624. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.83 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on NI. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.