Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Makes New $4.78 Million Investment in NiSource, Inc $NI

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 122,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,780,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,613,234,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 2nd quarter worth $574,295,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,381,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,364,000 after buying an additional 183,321 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 2nd quarter worth $179,838,000. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its holdings in NiSource by 154.7% during the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 3,680,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $171,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,235,394 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their target price on NiSource from $51.50 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Mizuho decreased their target price on NiSource from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut NiSource from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CFO Shawn Anderson sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $292,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 160,080 shares in the company, valued at $7,203,600. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 37,509 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $1,590,381.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 78,527 shares in the company, valued at $3,329,544.80. This represents a 32.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $44.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.86. NiSource, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $38.42 and a fifty-two week high of $49.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 8.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

About NiSource

NiSource Inc is a regulated energy holding company based in Merrillville, Indiana. Through its operating companies, the company provides natural gas distribution and electric utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NiSource’s natural gas operations include Columbia Gas utilities serving customers in several states, including Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its electric utility, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), serves customers in northern Indiana and provides both electric power and natural gas services.

The company’s operations include energy delivery infrastructure, utility system maintenance, customer services and investments intended to support reliability and the transition of its generation portfolio.