Cerity Partners LLC Makes New Investment in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 41.4% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in NiSource by 82.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Tobam increased its holdings in NiSource by 3,994.6% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 2,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 2,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays raised their price target 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE NI opened at $27.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.29. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $28.95. The firm has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 72.11%.

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.