Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,797,297 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 402,132 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 1.24% of NiSource worth $213,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 31,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in NiSource by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 5,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in NiSource by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 4.1% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,095,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,456,738. The business's fifty day moving average is $38.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.94. The stock has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.25 and a 1 year high of $41.44. 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 (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.