Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 16,549 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,549 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 19.9% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in NiSource by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 59,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 47,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,774 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 22.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 20,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 3,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 2.8% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 85,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after buying an additional 2,313 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $35.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.61 and a 12 month high of $36.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.37 and a 200 day moving average of $31.31. The stock has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is 64.24%.

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.