First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 106,095 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,849,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 106,095 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.40% of NiSource worth $67,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,977,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $195,745,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $301,427,000 after buying an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after buying an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.46. 3,746,620 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,144,278. The business's fifty day moving average is $39.25 and its 200 day moving average is $37.58. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.46 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 2.84%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $40.33.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction 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 $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.