ING Groep NV Grows Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

ING Groep NV raised its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,695 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 13,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.71.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE NI opened at $29.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.69. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $29.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

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.