Townsquare Capital LLC Increases Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,852,000 after acquiring an additional 273,159 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth $348,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 271.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 35,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $280,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

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 transaction of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.44. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.46 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on NI shares. UBS Group upped their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.33.

NiSource 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.