Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 135,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,991,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.1 %

NiSource stock opened at $37.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.14. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on NI. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. 0.13% 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.