Tobam Boosts Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Tobam boosted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3,994.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,237 shares during the period. Tobam’s holdings in NiSource were worth $61,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 70,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in NiSource by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 175,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,591,000 after acquiring an additional 3,815 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 470,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,481,000 after buying an additional 19,099 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 2,441.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 285,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,576,000 after buying an additional 274,131 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock opened at $27.26 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.08. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.86 and a twelve month high of $28.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th.

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.