U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $1.94 Million in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 72,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,937,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $1,049,000. HF Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,559,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 803,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,337,000 after purchasing an additional 128,497 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,696,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 201,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,964,000 after purchasing an additional 70,487 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,485,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,885,403. The firm has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.38. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.86 and a 1 year high of $28.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.11%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NI shares. StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

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.