NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock Position Lifted by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,676 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 195.9% in the 4th quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 21,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14,303 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $8,607,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

NiSource Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:NI opened at $39.08 on Thursday. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.04 and a 12-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 capitalization of $18.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.34.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.