15,097 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Purchased by Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP acquired a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 0.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,111,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $323,582,000 after acquiring an additional 39,374 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 4.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,101,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,952,000 after acquiring an additional 326,999 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of NiSource by 20.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 865,245 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 7.8% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,400,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,605,000 after acquiring an additional 319,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 10.5% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 4,014,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,076,000 after acquiring an additional 382,569 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE NI traded up $0.25 on Wednesday, hitting $28.19. 5,601,122 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,239,639. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.86 and a fifty-two week high of $28.95. The company has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.26.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th.

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.