TCW Group Inc. Increases Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,704,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 183,701 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $62,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $8,497,000. ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 113.2% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 46,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 24,434 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 13,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 59.6% in the fourth quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 136,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,017,000 after purchasing an additional 50,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 18,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 8,752 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NI. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $40.09 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.59 and a 52 week high of $40.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.