SVB Wealth LLC Purchases 57,705 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• SVB Wealth LLC increased its stake in NiSource, Inc by 331.6% during the 1st quarter, bringing its holdings to $3.01 million with 75,105 shares owned.
• Vanguard Group Inc. and T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. also increased their positions in NiSource, with Vanguard holding over $2.43 billion and T. Rowe Price holding approximately $963 million in the company.
• NiSource's quarterly earnings surpassed estimates with an EPS of $0.22, and the company plans to pay a $0.28 dividend per share on November 20th.

SVB Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 331.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,105 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 57,705 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $3,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,439,236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,050,420 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,020,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $962,997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,827 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,577,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $464,155,000 after acquiring an additional 857,653 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 185.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $339,837,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in NiSource by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,821,510 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $177,239,000 after acquiring an additional 239,897 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim upped their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised NiSource to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $42.41. The company had a trading volume of 4,133,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,977,188. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $32.53 and a 12 month high of $43.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average is $41.09 and its 200 day moving average is $39.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is 59.57%.

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.