NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,300 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

NiSource Stock Down 1.0 %

NI opened at $37.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $17.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.80 and a 12 month high of $38.83.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

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.