NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) CAO Gunnar Gode Sells 5,500 Shares

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NI traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.09. 5,460,101 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,914,759. The company has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.59 and a fifty-two week high of $40.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock's 50-day moving average is $37.42 and its 200-day moving average is $35.60.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 31.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in NiSource by 6.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 436,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,115,000 after acquiring an additional 26,572 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter valued at approximately $234,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 249.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,908 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 22,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 27.4% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 61,251 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 13,171 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.13.

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.