Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Has $108.71 Million Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,094,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 192,680 shares during the quarter. NiSource makes up about 1.3% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned 0.99% of NiSource worth $108,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,070,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,149,000 after buying an additional 865,245 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 303.4% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 814,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,637,000 after buying an additional 612,919 shares during the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 2,786,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,980,000 after buying an additional 568,980 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth about $13,918,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in NiSource by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,191,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,394,000 after purchasing an additional 469,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.93. The stock had a trading volume of 681,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,190,690. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.32. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $28.95.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted 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). NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s payout ratio is 72.11%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th.

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.