California Public Employees Retirement System Raises Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,075,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 43,608 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.44% of NiSource worth $76,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $195,745,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,124,492,000 after buying an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 793.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,609,000 after buying an additional 784,495 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI stock traded down $2.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.23. 8,391,091 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,072,319. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.26 and a 1 year high of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.07. 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 (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.33.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. 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.

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.