International Assets Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 2,441.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 285,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 274,131 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of NiSource worth $7,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $26.82. 3,285,197 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,274,209. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $28.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.11%.

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.