Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in NiSource by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in NiSource by 269.7% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 132,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 96,809 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its holdings in NiSource by 16.1% during the third quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 33,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 4,613 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI opened at $38.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.04 and a 1-year high of $41.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, 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 research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.