MetLife Investment Management LLC Buys 80,048 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in NiSource, Inc by 64.8%, acquiring an additional 80,048 shares, bringing its total holdings to 203,596 shares valued at approximately $8.16 million.
• Institutional investors own 91.64% of NiSource, with notable increases in holdings from Vanguard Group Inc, T. Rowe Price, and Jennison Associates during the first quarter.
• NiSource announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, set to be paid on November 20th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.6%.

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 64.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 203,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 80,048 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $8,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,439,236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,050,420 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,020,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $962,997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,827 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,577,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $464,155,000 after purchasing an additional 857,653 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of NiSource by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,821,510 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $177,239,000 after purchasing an additional 239,897 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NI. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.56.

NiSource Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:NI opened at $42.41 on Wednesday. NiSource, Inc has a twelve month low of $32.53 and a twelve month high of $43.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.89. The company has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.57%.

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.

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