Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Sells 7,839 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE reduced its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,839 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Down 0.6 %

NI opened at $39.76 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.89 and a 200 day moving average of $36.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.26 and a 12 month high of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

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.