NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 790,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,782 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $28,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NI. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in NiSource by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 344,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,665,000 after buying an additional 99,033 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 180,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,626,000 after acquiring an additional 36,736 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 197,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,254,000 after purchasing an additional 6,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 44,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 15,157 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. UBS Group upped their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock opened at $39.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.93 and a 200-day moving average of $36.90. The stock has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued 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 is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.