Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 12,972 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 184,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,972 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $6,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in NiSource by 1,242.2% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $39.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.62. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.26 and a 1 year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About NiSource

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.