Moran Wealth Management LLC Acquires 4,139 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,139 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in NiSource by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 2.1% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 12.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 4.1% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 3.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $38.48 on Tuesday. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.04 and a 1 year high of $41.44. 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 $38.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.28. The company has a market cap of $18.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.