Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Invests $3.79 Million in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 103,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of NiSource by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $394,888,000 after buying an additional 99,882 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,823,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,020,000 after buying an additional 316,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,139,000 after buying an additional 178,365 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $39.48 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.25 and a one year high of $41.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.45.

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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.