Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 10,082 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,082 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at $748,000. Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the fourth 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $99,720,000 after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,068,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $38.07 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.14. 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 $24.80 and a 12-month high of $38.83. The company has a market cap of $17.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.88%.

NiSource 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.