Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Invests $40,000 in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 423.6% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $39.86 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.47. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.45 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46.

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 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 67.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource 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.