Strs Ohio Sells 207,495 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Strs Ohio lessened its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,270,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 207,495 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.31% of NiSource worth $33,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Down 0.9 %

NiSource stock opened at $26.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.85. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $28.95. The stock has a market cap of $12.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% 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.