Fisher Funds Management LTD Purchases New Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 231,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,497,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $40.09 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.59 and a 12 month high of $40.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.42 and a 200-day moving average of $35.63.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.