UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 280,453 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,867,242 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 280,453 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.61% of NiSource worth $105,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,124,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised 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 worth $785,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,334 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 worth $419,765,000 after purchasing an additional 700,747 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised 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 worth $339,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001,486 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $38.77. 565,298 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,135,549. The stock has a market cap of $18.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $39.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.21. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.60 and a 12 month high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $944,760.18. The trade was a 13.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.