SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 2,474.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,083 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

NiSource Stock Down 0.2 %

NI opened at $39.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.99 and its 200 day moving average is $36.09. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.04 and a fifty-two week high of $41.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

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.