1,138 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Purchased by First Financial Corp IN

First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NI. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Tobam grew its position in shares of NiSource by 3,994.6% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 2,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NI remained flat at $28.83 on Wednesday. 1,517,384 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,299,350. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.13. The stock has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $29.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NI. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of NiSource in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.