Kiker Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Kiker Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $39.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.61 and a 200 day moving average of $36.58. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. 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 (NYSE:NI) last posted 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.