Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $82.91 Million Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 33.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,255,512 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,158,073 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.48% of NiSource worth $82,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at $219,977,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $195,745,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in NiSource by 49.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Down 0.4 %

Shares of NI traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $38.95. 3,957,253 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,154,687. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50 day moving average is $39.22 and its 200-day moving average is $37.65. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.60 and a 52 week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). 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 firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

About NiSource

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.