Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $15.52 Million in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 422,261 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,522,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of NiSource at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 110.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank grew its position in NiSource by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 16,364 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in NiSource by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,720,000 after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at about $566,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NI stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.46. The stock had a trading volume of 3,746,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,146,128. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $39.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.46 and a 52-week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Equities 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.33.

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.