Bank of New York Mellon Corp Raises Stock Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 1.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,822,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 46,798 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $165,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 181.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 195.5% in the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 182,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after acquiring an additional 121,043 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in NiSource by 10.6% during the second quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 340,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,737,000 after purchasing an additional 32,595 shares during the last quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 138.7% during the second quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 29,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 17,271 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,215,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $170,070,000 after purchasing an additional 55,515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $44.30 on Friday. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $35.64 and a 12-month high of $44.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $21.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.39.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). NiSource had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 59.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.11.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, EVP Kimberly S. Cuccia sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $345,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,778,983.11. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.