Toronto Dominion Bank Boosts Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 29.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 256,294 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 58,471 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.05% of NiSource worth $9,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in NiSource by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,852,000 after acquiring an additional 273,159 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,957 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Up 1.3%

NiSource stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $39.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,073,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,162,775. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.18. The company has a market cap of $18.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.60 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on NI. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.