Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Has $877,000 Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,116,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 30,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,364 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,029,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,841,000 after purchasing an additional 36,676 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 436,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,033,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock opened at $39.46 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.46 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.58.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.33.

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.