108,200 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Purchased by Hartree Partners LP

Hartree Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 108,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,977,000. NiSource comprises 1.5% of Hartree Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $39.88 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.87. The stock has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.26 and a one year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.