NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 378,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,648 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.09% of NiSource worth $10,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NI. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in NiSource by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Tobam raised its stake in NiSource by 3,994.6% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 2,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NI shares. StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

NiSource Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.07. 3,720,389 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,210,096. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.40. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $29.17.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.11%.

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.