MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Acquires 38,237 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in NiSource, Inc by 90.7% in Q1, acquiring an additional 38,237 shares, bringing its total holdings to valued at $3.22 million.
• Institutional ownership in NiSource is high, with 91.64% of the stock owned by institutional investors and hedge funds following several large investors raising their positions, including Vanguard and T. Rowe Price.
• NiSource recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, representing a yield of 2.7%, with the payout set for November 20th to shareholders on record by October 31st.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 90.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 38,237 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,439,236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,050,420 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 12.4% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,650,827 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter valued at about $98,682,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter valued at about $71,839,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 8.0% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,577,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $464,155,000 after acquiring an additional 857,653 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NI traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.18. 6,090,732 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,099,423. The company's fifty day moving average price is $41.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.03. The company has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $33.32 and a 12 month high of $43.51.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.88.

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.