Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Buys Shares of 21,696 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 21,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $39.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,758,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,134,807. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.83 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. NiSource's payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on NI. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim raised their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.