Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,438 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.1% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.6% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Mizuho raised their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

NiSource Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $40.79 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.91. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.71 and a twelve month high of $40.88. The company has a market capitalization of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. 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 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

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.