Covalis Capital LLP Has $4.48 Million Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Covalis Capital LLP reduced its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 84.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 121,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 637,863 shares during the quarter. Covalis Capital LLP’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 110.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 16,364 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,720,000 after purchasing an additional 483,491 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $566,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’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 value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NI. UBS Group increased their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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 raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.33.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $39.21 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.37. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.46 and a 12 month high of $41.45. 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 market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48.

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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 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.