Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases Shares of 146,000 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 146,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,367,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,991,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 775,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,509,000 after purchasing an additional 77,484 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $1,921,000. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of NiSource by 25.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 8,247 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 1,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in NiSource by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 32,673 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 7,778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.33.

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NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NI traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,577,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,127,970. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.26 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 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 firm earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. 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 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.