Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 171,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,316,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in NiSource by 153.2% in 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. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Stock Up 2.1 %

NI stock opened at $39.48 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.25 and a twelve month high of $41.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.35 and a 200 day moving average of $36.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

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.