Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 12,885 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 599,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,885 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $22,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in NiSource by 53.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after buying an additional 1,782,078 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in NiSource by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in NiSource during the third quarter valued at about $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 793.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,609,000 after buying an additional 784,495 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Down 0.4 %

NiSource stock opened at $39.32 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.50. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.26 and a 52 week high of $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.