NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock Position Raised by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 195.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,303 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in NiSource by 269.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 132,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,598,000 after purchasing an additional 96,809 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its position in NiSource by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 33,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 4,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,243,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,751,000 after purchasing an additional 255,348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Trading Down 0.4 %

NiSource stock opened at $38.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.04 and a 12-month high of $41.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. 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.