NewEdge Advisors LLC Raises Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 499.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,042 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,867 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 110.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,850,000 after purchasing an additional 16,364 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in NiSource by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,720,000 after purchasing an additional 483,491 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $566,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NI stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $39.15. 683,732 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,141,154. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.60 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $18.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50 day moving average price is $39.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.68.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on NI. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.11.

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.