Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $2.01 Million Position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 27.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,830 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $2,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 185.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $339,837,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $219,977,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth about $195,745,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on NI shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the 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 directly owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the business'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 sale, the director owned 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NiSource Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NI stock traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $39.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,878,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,136,728. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $28.42 and a 1-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 firm has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.36 and a 200 day moving average of $38.64.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current 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 is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. NiSource's payout ratio is 60.54%.

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.