Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,121,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 207,391 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $151,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in NiSource by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in NiSource by 269.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 132,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 96,809 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its position in NiSource by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 33,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 4,613 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI opened at $38.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.14. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.04 and a 1-year high of $41.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

Insider Activity

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource 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.