Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $213.11 Million Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,797,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 402,132 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 1.24% of NiSource worth $213,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 139,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,116,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 808.2% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 4,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,944 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth about $195,745,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 33,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 17,033 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 62,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after purchasing an additional 9,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

NiSource Stock Performance

NI stock opened at $39.76 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.26 and a 1-year high of $41.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.80.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 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.