JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $515.32 Million Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,018,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 883,987 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 3.00% of NiSource worth $515,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 110.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank grew its stake in NiSource by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,850,000 after buying an additional 16,364 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in NiSource by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,720,000 after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth approximately $566,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter worth approximately $585,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.93 and its 200 day moving average is $36.87. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.26 and a 52 week high of $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 earned $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.