Praxis Investment Management Inc. Buys 9,000 Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 82.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,960 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NI shares. 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. 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Up 0.6%

NI stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,150,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,115,616. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45. NiSource, Inc has a twelve month low of $28.29 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The company's fifty day moving average price is $39.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.55.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of NiSource 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 transaction, the director now owns 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.