Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $1.47 Million Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $40.79 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.91. The company has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.71 and a 52-week high of $40.88.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on NI shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

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.