Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys 48,779 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 824,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,779 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of NiSource worth $21,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 41.4% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in NiSource by 47.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 72,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 23,330 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its holdings in NiSource by 85.4% during the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 16,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 72.0% during the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 2.5% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 130,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.94. The stock had a trading volume of 4,604,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,243,731. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.29. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.86 and a fifty-two week high of $28.95.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.11%.

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.