68,189 Shares in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Acquired by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 68,189 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,734,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,124,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $785,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,334 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $419,765,000 after acquiring an additional 700,747 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 185.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $339,837,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,262 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $701,035.21. This represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.26. 1,465,364 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,121,097. NiSource, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $29.37 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.77.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NI. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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 raised their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

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.