BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 275,949 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 39.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 968,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 275,949 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.21% of NiSource worth $35,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in NiSource by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.51 on Tuesday, hitting $37.81. 3,880,937 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,166,151. The company has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.94. 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 $27.60 and a one year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. NiSource's payout ratio is 60.54%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on NI. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

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.