JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $515.32 Million Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,018,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 883,987 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $515,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NI. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its position in NiSource by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 31,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its position in NiSource by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 5,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its holdings in NiSource by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NiSource stock opened at $39.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.26 and a 52-week high of $41.45. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.87.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NI. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Company 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.