NiSource, Inc $NI Shares Purchased by Patton Fund Management Inc.

Patton Fund Management Inc. lifted its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 34.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,070 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NI. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $36,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets set a $50.00 target price on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.64.

NiSource Price Performance

NI opened at $47.13 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $37.22 and a 52-week high of $48.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.06. The company has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.61.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

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.