Jennison Associates LLC Has $394.07 Million Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,720,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 102,916 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $394,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 25,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 362,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,343,000 after purchasing an additional 15,211 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Down 1.0 %

NI stock opened at $37.33 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.80 and a fifty-two week high of $38.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 64.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

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.