Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $38 Million Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,033,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,671 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $38,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd 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. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after buying an additional 1,782,078 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in NiSource during the third quarter valued at $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in NiSource by 793.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,609,000 after acquiring an additional 784,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.4 %

NiSource stock opened at $38.07 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.14. The company has a market capitalization of $17.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About NiSource

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.