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

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

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $785,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,334 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $419,765,000 after acquiring an additional 700,747 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 185.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $339,837,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001,486 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $301,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI traded up $1.00 on Monday, hitting $40.52. The company had a trading volume of 5,542,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,121,318. The company has a market capitalization of $19.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.55. The company's fifty day moving average price is $39.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.50. 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 12-month low of $28.29 and a 12-month high of $41.45.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. NiSource's payout ratio is 60.54%.

Insider Activity

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total transaction of $152,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $944,760.18. This represents a 13.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.