NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,272 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $785,563,000 after buying an additional 1,965,334 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $419,765,000 after buying an additional 700,747 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 185.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $339,837,000 after buying an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $301,427,000 after buying an additional 2,714,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $39.56 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $39.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.79. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $29.67 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's payout ratio 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.

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