Legal & General Group Plc Sells 949,946 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,941,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 949,946 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.84% of NiSource worth $144,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $195,745,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $301,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,262 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in NiSource by 793.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,609,000 after purchasing an additional 784,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

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NiSource Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.54. The company had a trading volume of 583,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,726,963. 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 one year low of $26.25 and a one year high of $41.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.28. The company has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.33.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.