NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,271,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,770 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.27% of NiSource worth $46,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in NiSource by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $176,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 793.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,609,000 after purchasing an additional 784,495 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI opened at $41.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.04. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.98 and a 1 year high of $41.30. The stock has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. 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.