1,478 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Acquired by Family Firm Inc.

Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.00.

NiSource Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:NI traded up $0.05 on Friday, reaching $32.62. 3,158,252 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,219,067. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.29 and a 200-day moving average of $28.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $32.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.28%.

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.