Achmea Investment Management B.V. Takes $558,000 Position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 13,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in NiSource by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake in NiSource by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,878,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,136,728. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $28.42 and a 52-week high of $41.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $39.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.54%.

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.