Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 12,445 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 269,345 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,445 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.06% of NiSource worth $9,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NI. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 65.2% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 12,683 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 31.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in NiSource during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 1,866.4% during the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,975 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 4,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in NiSource by 6.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 436,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,115,000 after buying an additional 26,572 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.97. The company had a trading volume of 3,155,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,867,933. 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 1-year low of $25.45 and a 1-year high of $40.15. The firm has a market cap of $18.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.51.

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 (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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. This is a positive change from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.13.

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.