Creekmur Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,525,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,353,000 after buying an additional 1,826,202 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 4.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,101,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,952,000 after acquiring an additional 326,999 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,272,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $193,083,000 after acquiring an additional 450,818 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 123.6% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,593,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092,138 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 4,336,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,142,000 after acquiring an additional 322,360 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NI traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $28.17. 1,806,798 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,178,376. The firm has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $29.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

NiSource 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.