NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 360,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,129 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.09% of NiSource worth $9,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 13,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised 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 worth $80,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.71.

NiSource Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NI traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $28.54. 3,112,683 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,308,409. The firm has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.86 and a twelve month high of $29.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.92.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 69.28%.

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.