Principal Street Partners LLC Sells 881 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Principal Street Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 881 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in NiSource by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of 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 increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 24,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $944,760.18. This trade represents a 13.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NI stock opened at $39.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $27.60 and a one year high of $41.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.08. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 60.54%.

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.