DnB Asset Management AS Grows Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 112,370 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 10,517 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in NiSource were worth $4,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.33.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NI traded down $0.93 on Thursday, hitting $39.71. 8,705,580 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,042,630. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.26 and a 1 year high of $41.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $39.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.