CIBC Asset Management Inc Buys 5,182 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,182 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in NiSource by 53.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after buying an additional 1,782,078 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of NiSource by 793.3% during 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. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

NI stock opened at $40.09 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.60. The company has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.59 and a fifty-two week high of $40.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

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.