Insider Selling: NiSource (NYSE:NI) CFO Sells 6,500 Shares of Stock

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) CFO Shawn Anderson sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.58, for a total transaction of $296,270.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 153,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,000,176.40. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Shawn Anderson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, October 30th, Shawn Anderson sold 6,500 shares of NiSource stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $292,500.00.

NiSource Stock Up 2.0%

NI stock traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $45.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,371,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,836,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource, Inc has a twelve month low of $38.42 and a twelve month high of $49.21.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 13.56%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded NiSource from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on NiSource from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.50 target price on the stock. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,613,234,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the second quarter worth approximately $574,295,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,381,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,364,000 after purchasing an additional 183,321 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the second quarter valued at approximately $179,838,000. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 154.7% during the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 3,680,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $171,718,000 after buying an additional 2,235,394 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Company Profile

NiSource Inc is a regulated energy holding company that delivers natural gas and electricity through its local utility subsidiaries. Its businesses focus on operating and maintaining energy infrastructure and providing service to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The company’s natural gas utilities serve customers in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its electric utility, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), serves customers in northern Indiana.

NiSource traces its roots to Northern Indiana Public Service Company, established in 1912.