Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Purchases New Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 185.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,837,000 after buying an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $219,977,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $195,745,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in 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 during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $39.09 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.99. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.60 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The firm has a market cap of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.54%.

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.