NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $176,194,000 after buying an additional 1,782,078 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in NiSource by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter valued at $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in NiSource by 793.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,609,000 after acquiring an additional 784,495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $38.79 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.21. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 67.88%.

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.