NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,281,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 370,805 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $34,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Beck Bode LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 380,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,110,000 after purchasing an additional 17,460 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $900,000 after buying an additional 15,463 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 4,094,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,709,000 after buying an additional 192,680 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 11,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amica Mutual Insurance Co. purchased a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $605,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $28.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.40. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.86 and a twelve month high of $28.95. 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 company has a market capitalization of $12.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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.