iA Global Asset Management Inc. Buys 1,972 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 792,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,033,000 after buying an additional 57,498 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in NiSource by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,144,000 after buying an additional 29,055 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in NiSource by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after buying an additional 57,658 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,559,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in NiSource by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,036,000 after buying an additional 164,532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.75. The company had a trading volume of 3,242,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,223,658. The company has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.86 and a 12-month high of $31.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.72.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Mizuho assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.