GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases New Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 4.6% during the third quarter. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in NiSource by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in NiSource by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Spreng Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 4.6% during the third quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

NiSource Stock Down 0.6 %

NiSource stock opened at $27.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.49. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.86 and a fifty-two week high of $28.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.29.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 72.11%.

NiSource Company 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.