Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $5.47 Million Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 67,653 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 16.3% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 2,614 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 23.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 106,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,397,000 after acquiring an additional 20,064 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 66.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 146,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,660,000 after acquiring an additional 58,398 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 29.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,952,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,093,000 after acquiring an additional 447,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth about $472,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NI shares. StockNews.com raised shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $27.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.07. The firm has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.49. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.86 and a 1 year high of $28.95. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.11%.

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.