Schroder Investment Management Group Trims Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Schroder Investment Management Group lessened its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 998,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 289,588 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.21% of NiSource worth $36,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 31,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 5,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in NiSource by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI opened at $40.40 on Wednesday. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.99.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.