Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,129 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $262,000.
Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity at NiSource
In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
NiSource Stock Down 2.0 %
NI stock traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $39.66. 7,174,531 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,177,738. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.60 and a 1 year high of $41.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.81.
NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.
NiSource Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have issued reports on NI. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group boosted 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. Guggenheim lifted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on NiSource
About NiSource
(
Free Report)
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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