NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in NiSource were worth $1,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NI shares. Mizuho increased their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

NiSource stock opened at $40.09 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.59 and a fifty-two week high of $40.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.67.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.