Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $804,000 in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

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

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in NiSource by 10.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $419,765,000 after purchasing an additional 700,747 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in NiSource by 185.0% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in NiSource by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on NI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group increased 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. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

NiSource Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.47. The company had a trading volume of 3,638,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,126,995. The stock has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company's fifty day moving average price is $39.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.83 and a 12 month high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 24,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $944,760.18. This trade represents a 13.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were 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 now directly owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.