Nomura Holdings Inc. Purchases Shares of 15,374 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,374 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 185.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $339,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001,486 shares during the period. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $219,977,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $195,745,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after buying an additional 2,714,262 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $944,760.18. This represents a 13.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $39.01. 3,073,894 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,162,775. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $39.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.60 and a 12 month high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is 60.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

About NiSource

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.