Summit Global Investments Makes New Investment in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 109,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,035,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $176,194,000 after buying an additional 1,782,078 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in NiSource by 793.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,609,000 after acquiring an additional 784,495 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.94. The stock had a trading volume of 4,530,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,706,998. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.26 and a 1-year high of $41.45. The firm has a market cap of $18.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG 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 business's fifty day moving average is $38.80 and its 200-day moving average is $36.76.

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NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.