Meritage Portfolio Management Raises Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 122,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 892 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in NiSource by 20.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,070,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $125,149,000 after purchasing an additional 865,245 shares in the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd raised its position in shares of NiSource by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 2,786,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,980,000 after buying an additional 568,980 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth $13,918,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,191,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,394,000 after acquiring an additional 469,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in NiSource by 10.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 4,014,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,076,000 after acquiring an additional 382,569 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,375.20. 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd.

NiSource Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $0.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.10. 4,203,859 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,239,192. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $28.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.88 and its 200-day moving average is $26.26.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 72.11%.

NiSource 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.