Michael E. Jesanis Sells 4,000 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total transaction of $152,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $944,760.18. This trade represents a 13.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $39.09 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $27.60 and a one year high of $41.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. On average, 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 Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NiSource

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in NiSource by 64.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

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.