Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Takes Position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,635 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised 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 worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NI. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho upped their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

NiSource Stock Down 0.1%

NI opened at $39.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.44. NiSource, Inc has a 52 week low of $28.08 and a 52 week high of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.85%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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