NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock Position Lifted by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 808.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,944 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $195,745,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 33,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 17,033 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in NiSource by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 62,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after buying an additional 9,744 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in NiSource by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 47,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 7,439 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in NiSource by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 790,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,750,000 after acquiring an additional 109,782 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NI opened at $40.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.06 and a 200-day moving average of $37.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.26 and a 12-month high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.