Rhumbline Advisers Buys 23,901 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,008,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,901 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in NiSource were worth $43,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 181.7% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 195.5% during the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 182,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after buying an additional 121,043 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in NiSource by 10.6% during the second quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 340,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,737,000 after buying an additional 32,595 shares in the last quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC raised its position in NiSource by 138.7% in the 2nd quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 29,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after buying an additional 17,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,215,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,070,000 after buying an additional 55,515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, EVP Kimberly S. Cuccia sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $345,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,778,983.11. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.20.

NiSource Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NI opened at $46.34 on Friday. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $35.64 and a 1-year high of $46.40. The company has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.62.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 8.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.49%.

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.