AE Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 212,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,627 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $9,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 90.7% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 2,668.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, EVP Kimberly S. Cuccia sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $345,040.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,247 shares in the company, valued at $1,778,983.11. This trade represents a 16.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.11.

NiSource Trading Down 0.8%

NiSource stock opened at $44.30 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.39. NiSource, Inc has a 52 week low of $35.64 and a 52 week high of $44.95. The stock has a market cap of $21.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.25 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 59.26%.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.