HF Advisory Group LLC Takes $1.56 Million Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 58,712 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,559,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 10.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,613,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,673,113,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153,843 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of NiSource by 8.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,192,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $769,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970,696 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 0.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,111,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $323,582,000 after purchasing an additional 39,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 1.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,609,035 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $240,171,000 after purchasing an additional 161,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 4.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,101,773 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $199,952,000 after purchasing an additional 326,999 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NiSource Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NI traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $27.40. 3,486,579 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,236,878. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's 50 day moving average is $26.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.14. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.86 and a 1 year high of $28.95.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 72.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on NI shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

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.