NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by Thomasville National Bank

Thomasville National Bank raised its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 581,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,627 shares during the quarter. NiSource makes up approximately 1.7% of Thomasville National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in NiSource were worth $23,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after buying an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,563,000 after buying an additional 1,965,334 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,765,000 after buying an additional 700,747 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 185.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,837,000 after buying an additional 6,001,486 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,427,000 after buying an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, 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 transaction of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $944,760.18. This trade represents a 13.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $39.85 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.40. The stock has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.83 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. 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 data 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. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NI shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lifted 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. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.