NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA trimmed its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 319,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 75,756 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA owned about 0.07% of NiSource worth $11,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

NI stock opened at $40.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. 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 one year low of $25.59 and a one year high of $40.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.63.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

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

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.