NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by USA Financial Formulas

USA Financial Formulas lessened its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,118 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in NiSource were worth $1,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in NiSource by 185.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,837,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001,486 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,977,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $195,745,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in NiSource by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in NiSource by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $701,035.21. This represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on 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 boosted their target price on 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, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI opened at $39.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.38. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.83 and a 1-year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

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.