State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 126,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after buying an additional 2,926 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 12.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in NiSource by 269.7% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 132,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 96,809 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its holdings in NiSource by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 33,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Down 2.8 %

NI stock opened at $38.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.04 and a 1-year high of $41.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly 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 last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.