Securian Asset Management Inc. Acquires 282 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $78,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.43. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.25 and a fifty-two week high of $41.44.

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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.