Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 397,977 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,800,101 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 397,977 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.39% of NiSource worth $66,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $2,124,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 6.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,977,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on NI. UBS Group increased their target price on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $39.89.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.66. 2,600,362 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,735,732. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.46 and a 12 month high of $41.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.46.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

About NiSource

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.