NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 185.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,001,486 shares during the period. NiSource comprises 0.2% of Millennium Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 1.98% of NiSource worth $339,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,852,000 after acquiring an additional 273,159 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 101,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,841 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 16,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group purchased a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI opened at $38.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.60 and a 1-year high of $41.45. The stock has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.94.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NI. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays increased their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

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.