Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 468,520 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 128,652 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of NiSource worth $17,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the third quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
NI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $39.33.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on NI
Insider Activity at NiSource
In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value 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 approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
NiSource Stock Up 0.8 %
Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.40. 4,294,085 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,024,028. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $39.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.99. The firm has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. 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 52-week low of $26.26 and a 52-week high of $41.45.
NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.
NiSource Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.14%.
About NiSource
(
Free Report)
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.
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