Fisher Funds Management LTD Invests $8.50 Million in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Fisher Funds Management LTD 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 Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 231,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,497,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NI. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 436,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,115,000 after acquiring an additional 26,572 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 249.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 22,066 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 61,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 13,171 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 148.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 53,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 32,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $40.09 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.59 and a 1 year high of $40.22. 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 market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.63.

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 the consensus estimate 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 business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.