Sowell Financial Services LLC Buys New Holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in 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. The firm acquired 6,582 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the 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 now owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $944,760.18. The trade was a 13.93% 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 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $39.76. 3,857,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,124,347. The stock has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's 50 day moving average is $39.25 and its 200 day moving average is $38.51. 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 52-week low of $28.42 and a 52-week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 14.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

About NiSource

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.