Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.38% of NiSource worth $2,124,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in NiSource by 88.4% in 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in NiSource by 793.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,609,000 after purchasing an additional 784,495 shares during the period. National Pension Service bought a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $24,642,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at about $21,831,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.
NiSource Trading Up 0.5 %
Shares of NYSE NI traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.11. 5,911,798 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,015,566. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.26 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The firm has a market cap of $18.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.
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 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 company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.
NiSource Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
NI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.33.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on NI
Insider Activity
In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.
About NiSource
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Free Report)
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.
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