Wellington Management Group LLP Has $169.35 Million Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,607,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,437,756 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in NiSource were worth $169,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter worth $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

NiSource Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $40.72 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.01. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.26 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The company has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

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.