BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Grows Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 387.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,840 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC raised its position in NiSource by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,852,000 after purchasing an additional 273,159 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth approximately $348,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 271.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 35,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new position in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at $280,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

NiSource Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE NI opened at $38.07 on Tuesday. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $27.46 and a one year high of $41.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.43.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource 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.