Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Grows Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,271,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 135,770 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $46,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,121,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,510,000 after purchasing an additional 207,391 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in NiSource by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 126,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,656,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,026,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $148,011,000 after buying an additional 257,922 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in NiSource by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 111,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,092,000 after buying an additional 43,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 2,474.5% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 4,083 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NI opened at $41.24 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.04. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.98 and a 12-month high of $41.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter last year, the business 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 year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. 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 2.72%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.13.

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.