Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $11.56 Million Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 83.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 314,522 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 143,352 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of NiSource worth $11,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth about $748,000. Thomasville National Bank increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% in the 4th 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,720,000 after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares during the period. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,068,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade 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 link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $39.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,155,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,867,933. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.45 and a fifty-two week high of $40.15.

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 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 firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. This is a boost from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

About NiSource

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.