ING Groep NV Purchases 24,434 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

ING Groep NV grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 113.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,434 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of 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 stake in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $40.09 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.59 and a twelve month high of $40.22. The company has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.42 and its 200 day moving average is $35.67.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

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.