GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 4,106 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 54.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,106 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NI shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Mizuho started coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on NiSource from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $30.55. 4,167,843 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,230,461. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.81. The firm has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.56. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $32.38.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.28%.

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.