Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,821,510 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 239,897 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 1.03% of NiSource worth $177,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its position in NiSource by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,303 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 31,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 5,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of NiSource 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 now owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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 upped their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE:NI traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.84. 3,924,586 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,157,076. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $39.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.08. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.60 and a 52-week high of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

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.