NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by United Capital Financial Advisors LLC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,852,000 after buying an additional 273,159 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter valued at $348,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 271.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 35,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth about $280,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $38.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.46 and a 1 year high of $41.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.28 and a 200-day moving average of $37.43. The company has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on NI. UBS Group lifted their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.33.

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.