Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC Has $202,000 Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in NiSource by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 44.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Down 0.4%

NI opened at $39.45 on Wednesday. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.83 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.02 and a 200-day moving average of $38.31. The stock has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.50.

NiSource 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.