NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock Holdings Lessened by 1ST Source Bank

1ST Source Bank lessened its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank’s holdings in NiSource were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $39.48 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.25 and a 1 year high of $41.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.