NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Director Sells $233,590.18 in Stock

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

NiSource Trading Up 1.0%

NI stock opened at $39.09 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.60 and a 52-week high of $41.45. The firm has a market cap of $18.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in NiSource by 41.6% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 39,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 11,671 shares during the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP raised its holdings in NiSource by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 900,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,093,000 after acquiring an additional 145,084 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at about $322,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 58,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in NiSource by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 8,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.