NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,676 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $78,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

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

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $39.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.04 and a 1 year high of $41.44. The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.34.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.