Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 29.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,932 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,286 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in NiSource were worth $2,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 44.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 105.0% in the fourth 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. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NI. UBS Group increased their target price 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. 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. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. 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, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Down 0.6%

NiSource stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.11. 5,694,447 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,131,330. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.52. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $28.42 and a 12 month high of $41.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.62. The company has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 company 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 earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

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.