NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 56.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 63,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 83,368 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.89.

NiSource Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.67 and a 200 day moving average of $36.62. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.26 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The stock has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.