Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 81,884 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 4.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,713,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 81,884 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $79,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 891,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,228,000 after purchasing an additional 262,483 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $336,852,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in NiSource by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 5,424,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,537,000 after buying an additional 415,089 shares in the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,176,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its stake in NiSource by 320.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 65,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 50,200 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NI. Weiss Ratings lowered NiSource from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Evercore set a $52.00 target price on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $46.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.12. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $38.45 and a one year high of $49.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.55.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 14.15%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.70%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.68, for a total value of $715,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,003.20. This represents a 29.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.19, for a total transaction of $471,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,563,653.81. This represents a 7.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $1,305,675. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Company Profile

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.