NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stake Trimmed by Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lessened its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,552,610 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 918,756 shares during the period. NiSource accounts for 1.5% of Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC owned about 0.55% of NiSource worth $93,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 110.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter valued at $748,000. Thomasville National Bank increased its stake in NiSource by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $20,850,000 after purchasing an additional 16,364 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in NiSource by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,720,000 after purchasing an additional 483,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.32. 4,846,462 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,648,567. The stock has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.45. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.26 and a 1-year high of $41.45. 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 issued 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 last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. NiSource's payout ratio is 69.14%.

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.