NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) CAO Sells $219,560.00 in Stock

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource 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 owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

NiSource Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE NI opened at $40.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.45 and a 52 week high of $40.15.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NI. Mizuho lifted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NiSource

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NI. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $748,000. Thomasville National Bank increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 16,364 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,720,000 after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,068,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

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.