Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,267,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 63,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.27% of NiSource worth $46,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its holdings in NiSource by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 4.1% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 3.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 1.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.83. 2,227,072 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,662,019. The stock has a market cap of $18.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released 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 period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related 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 value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $38.13.

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.