106,673 Shares in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Bought by Patton Fund Management Inc.

Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 106,673 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,277,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 110.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $34,612,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,382 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 1,531 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of NiSource by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,075,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,291,000 after buying an additional 43,608 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $4,035,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% 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. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on NI shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays upped their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI 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 4,150,760. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.44. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $28.08 and a one year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. 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 2.84%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.