79,778 Shares in NiSource, Inc $NI Purchased by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 79,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,793,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 15,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in NiSource by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 15,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 1.1% during the third quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 23,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 7,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NiSource from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on NiSource from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 37,509 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $1,590,381.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 78,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,329,544.80. This represents a 32.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

NI opened at $41.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.29. The firm has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.55. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $38.45 and a 1 year high of $49.21.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 13.20%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 63.83%.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.