NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,928 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $119,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $39.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.04 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change 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 2.82%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.