Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Buys 586 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 586 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in 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 period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in NiSource during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $38.44 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.11 and a 200-day moving average of $36.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.04 and a 12 month high of $41.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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.