Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Buys Shares of 6,729 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in NiSource by 153.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI opened at $37.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.80 and a twelve month high of $38.83.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 64.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

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.