Cwm LLC Acquires 1,073 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Cwm LLC increased its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 792,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,033,000 after buying an additional 57,498 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $1,049,000. HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $1,559,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 195,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after purchasing an additional 31,592 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,281,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,024,000 after purchasing an additional 370,805 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of NiSource in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $28.32 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $29.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $12.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.31 and a 200-day moving average of $27.09.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

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.