Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Buys 3,172 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,172 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $37.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.26 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.05.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors 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 yield of 3.01%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, 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 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.