Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Takes $246,000 Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in NiSource in the second quarter worth $47,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $36.70 on Thursday. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.80 and a 52-week high of $38.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.70.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 67.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

About NiSource

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.