Versor Investments LP cut its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI – Free Report) by 54.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 41,590 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in NiSource were worth $913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 303.4% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 814,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,637,000 after purchasing an additional 612,919 shares in the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 2,786,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,980,000 after buying an additional 568,980 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $13,918,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 65.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,191,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,394,000 after buying an additional 469,500 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 4,014,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,076,000 after acquiring an additional 382,569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
NiSource Trading Down 0.8 %
NYSE:NI traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $28.68. The company had a trading volume of 4,425,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,289,820. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.51. The company has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.49. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $29.17.
NiSource (NYSE:NI – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
NiSource Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.28%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have commented on NI. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.43.
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.