Bokf Na Acquires 19,064 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

BOKF NA grew its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,552 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 19,064 shares during the quarter. BOKF NA's holdings in NiSource were worth $6,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 25.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,852,000 after purchasing an additional 273,159 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 271.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 35,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 25,987 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at $280,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 12.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,243,984 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $77,751,000 after purchasing an additional 255,348 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on NI. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.51. The company had a trading volume of 4,955,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,165,919. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $39.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.88. The stock has a market cap of $18.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.60 and a 1-year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.14%.

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.