NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by 1ST Source Bank

1ST Source Bank cut its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 324 shares during the quarter. 1ST Source Bank’s holdings in NiSource were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in NiSource by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 72,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 11,960 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $775,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 599,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,024,000 after acquiring an additional 12,885 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 292,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,765,000 after acquiring an additional 87,423 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $39.48 on Monday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.25 and a 12 month high of $41.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

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.