Boston Partners Decreases Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Boston Partners lessened its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,885 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,710 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned about 0.08% of NiSource worth $13,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% during the third 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. FMR LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 0.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $394,888,000 after purchasing an additional 99,882 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $371,139,000 after purchasing an additional 178,365 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NI. UBS Group upped their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.89.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related 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 directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Up 1.6 %

NI traded up $0.61 on Monday, reaching $39.84. 4,509,433 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,706,358. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.26 and a one year high of $41.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.72. The company has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.81%. 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.