5,324,955 Shares in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,324,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $195,745,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.14% of NiSource as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth approximately $245,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in NiSource by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 339,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,749,000 after buying an additional 102,658 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,586,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,632,000 after buying an additional 495,738 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 1,412.3% during the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 18,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 16,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 487,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,894,000 after acquiring an additional 35,618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $39.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.26 and a one year high of $41.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Mizuho increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.33.

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.