Korea Investment CORP Cuts Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 281,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,400 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in NiSource were worth $10,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,124,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,139,000 after acquiring an additional 178,365 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in NiSource by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,261,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,656,000 after acquiring an additional 155,808 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on NI shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $39.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The stock has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.90.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.