Franklin Resources Inc. Has $244.32 Million Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,646,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,397 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $244,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock 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, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.33.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:NI opened at $40.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.