Penserra Capital Management LLC Has $942,000 Holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 1,890.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 22,330 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 202.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 18,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 9,256 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $6,316,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $15,522,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 129,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,774,000 after acquiring an additional 8,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. The trade was 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 valued at $631,939 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.56. The company had a trading volume of 4,008,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,135,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.81. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $29.67 and a 12-month high of $41.45.

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 firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.54%.

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.