NiSource (NYSE:NI) Stock: Insider Shawn Anderson Sells 6,500 Shares

NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) CFO Shawn Anderson sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $292,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 160,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,203,600. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $45.31 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. NiSource had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on NiSource from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their target price on NiSource from $51.50 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. HSBC assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.50 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NiSource in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NI. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,613,234,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $574,295,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $179,838,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $172,516,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter worth $146,785,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

NiSource Inc is a regulated energy holding company based in Merrillville, Indiana. Through its operating companies, the company provides natural gas distribution and electric utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NiSource’s natural gas operations include Columbia Gas utilities serving customers in several states, including Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its electric utility, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), serves customers in northern Indiana and provides both electric power and natural gas services.

The company’s operations include energy delivery infrastructure, utility system maintenance, customer services and investments intended to support reliability and the transition of its generation portfolio.