Prossimo Advisors LLC Has $492,000 Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Prossimo Advisors LLC raised its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $39.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.47. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.45 and a twelve month high of $39.99.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

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.