Norges Bank Buys New Stake in NiSource, Inc $NI

Norges Bank bought a new stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,066,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $336,852,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.69% of NiSource at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,408,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,606,180,000 after buying an additional 1,032,630 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in NiSource by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,580,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,107,647,000 after acquiring an additional 854,767 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 55,625.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,866,898 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $680,411,000 after acquiring an additional 16,836,630 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,459,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $518,301,000 after acquiring an additional 245,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in NiSource by 2.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,495,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $367,852,000 after acquiring an additional 183,203 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.68, for a total transaction of $715,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,716,003.20. This represents a 29.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.19, for a total transaction of $471,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,563,653.81. This represents a 7.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,305,675 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI opened at $45.17 on Tuesday. NiSource, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $38.45 and a fifty-two week high of $48.98. The company has a market capitalization of $21.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. NiSource had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NI shares. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Evercore set a $52.00 price objective on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.33.

NiSource Company Profile

NiSource, Inc NYSE: NI is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company's core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.

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