Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $34.02 Million Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,281,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 370,805 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of NiSource worth $34,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 0.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,111,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,582,000 after acquiring an additional 39,374 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 4.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,101,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,952,000 after acquiring an additional 326,999 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in NiSource by 20.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,070,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,149,000 after acquiring an additional 865,245 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 7.8% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,400,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,605,000 after acquiring an additional 319,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 192,680 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $28.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.23 and its 200-day moving average is $26.40. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $28.95. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.