TD Private Client Wealth LLC Acquires 28,685 Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 299.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,272 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,685 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $1,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in NiSource by 64.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 44.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in NiSource by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.37. 3,420,846 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,130,472. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $39.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.52. NiSource, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $28.52 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 14.67%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

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.