Polymer Capital Management US LLC Takes $13.79 Million Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 375,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,785,000. NiSource accounts for approximately 3.7% of Polymer Capital Management US LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Polymer Capital Management US LLC owned 0.08% of NiSource as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 110.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 16,364 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in NiSource by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,720,000 after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other 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 transaction 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. 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 is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NI. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $39.33.

NiSource Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NI stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,635,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,134,590. The company has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.26 and a one year high of $41.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.14%.

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.