NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Position Increased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 803,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 128,497 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.19% of NiSource worth $21,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 16.3% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 2,614 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 106,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,397,000 after acquiring an additional 20,064 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 146,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,660,000 after acquiring an additional 58,398 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,952,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,093,000 after acquiring an additional 447,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $472,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $27.46 on Thursday. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.86 and a 1 year high of $28.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 72.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on NI. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th.

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.