Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 81.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,085 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 299.2% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 38,272 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 28,685 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 21.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 647,519 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,959,000 after acquiring an additional 116,213 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in NiSource by 1,890.8% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 23,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 22,330 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.1%

NI stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $39.56. 4,008,390 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,133,108. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $29.67 and a one year high of $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.79.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

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.