Bank of Montreal Can Decreases Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 60.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,032,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,092,604 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.44% of NiSource worth $74,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 110.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $20,850,000 after buying an additional 16,364 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,720,000 after purchasing an additional 483,491 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $566,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on NI shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:NI traded up $0.61 on Monday, hitting $39.10. 433,798 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,122,623. The company's 50-day moving average price is $39.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.26 and a 52 week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.