New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $12.48 Million Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 470,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,099 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in NiSource were worth $12,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.6% in the third quarter. Mastrapasqua Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Brinker Capital Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 2.4% in the first quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 18,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NI. Barclays upped their price objective on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $27.64 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.06. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $28.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s payout ratio is 72.11%.

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.