Bank of Nova Scotia Has $2.27 Million Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,266 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 110.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in NiSource by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 16,364 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in NiSource by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,720,000 after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $566,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on NI. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

NiSource Price Performance

NI opened at $38.41 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.26 and a 52 week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by 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.