Swiss National Bank Cuts Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 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 quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.27% of NiSource worth $46,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in NiSource by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $176,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in NiSource by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in NiSource by 793.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,609,000 after purchasing an additional 784,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.16 on Monday, reaching $39.32. 4,846,462 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,648,567. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.26 and a one year high of $41.45. The company has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.35 and a 200 day moving average of $36.45. 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 (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.