214,524 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Bought by Bfsg LLC

Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 214,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,696,000. Bfsg LLC owned approximately 0.05% of NiSource at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at $178,000. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 1,235.4% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 211,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,618,000 after buying an additional 195,744 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its stake in NiSource by 116.9% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 213,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,673,000 after acquiring an additional 115,146 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

NI traded down $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.04. The stock had a trading volume of 632,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,193,503. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.88 and a 200-day moving average of $26.26. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $28.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 72.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th.

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.