Summit Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $37.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The company has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was 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 this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho boosted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.33.

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.