HighTower Advisors LLC Has $3.11 Million Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 133.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,367 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in NiSource by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,888,000 after acquiring an additional 99,882 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,139,000 after acquiring an additional 178,365 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in NiSource by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,078 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.18 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $38.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.62. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.26 and a 12 month high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NI shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.89.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.