Korea Investment CORP Sells 123,200 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 43.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 123,200 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in NiSource were worth $6,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 5.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,236,000 after buying an additional 3,050,420 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in NiSource by 8.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,577,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $464,155,000 after purchasing an additional 857,653 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in NiSource by 185.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001,486 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in NiSource by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,821,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,239,000 after purchasing an additional 239,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in NiSource by 4.7% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,638,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $185,976,000 after purchasing an additional 206,448 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim raised 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. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.56.

NiSource Stock Up 1.4%

NI opened at $42.8950 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $32.51 and a 12 month high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 59.57%.

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.