Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Purchases 1,550 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 2.1% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 12.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.1% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NI opened at $40.79 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $25.71 and a one year high of $40.88. The company has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.91.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS 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 company earned $0.53 EPS. Research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Company 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.