Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Stock Position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 689 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $6,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $42.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.78 and a 200 day moving average of $39.15. The firm has a market cap of $19.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $30.53 and a 1 year high of $42.26.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released 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. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

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.