Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,104 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 387,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,299,000 after buying an additional 7,704 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 27,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in NiSource by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 803,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,337,000 after acquiring an additional 128,497 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Up 0.8 %

NI stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.33. 2,162,265 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,247,566. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $28.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $31.55.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NI. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. One equities research 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, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

NiSource Company 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.