Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 7,439 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,439 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI opened at $39.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.87.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.