NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,229,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,020,247 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $77,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NI. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 7.1% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in NiSource by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after buying an additional 57,658 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 26.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 796,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,036,000 after acquiring an additional 164,532 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth $9,686,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.5% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 598,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,551,000 after acquiring an additional 20,060 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on NI shares. Barclays boosted their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.29.

NiSource Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $35.26. The company had a trading volume of 486,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,038,371. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.68. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.58 and a 52-week high of $35.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $15.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.76%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

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.