NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stake Raised by Reaves W H & Co. Inc.

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,026,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 257,922 shares during the period. NiSource accounts for 3.9% of Reaves W H & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Reaves W H & Co. Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $148,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in NiSource by 249.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 22,066 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in NiSource by 5.3% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in NiSource by 8.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in NiSource by 12.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter valued at approximately $303,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $41.24 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. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.04. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.98 and a fifty-two week high of $41.30. The company has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 69.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.