Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 111,379 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 1,028.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 122,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 111,379 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 60.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 30,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 11,452 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 41.6% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 39,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 11,671 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth $105,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 49,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the second quarter valued at $1,054,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.68, for a total value of $715,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,003.20. The trade was a 29.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total transaction of $118,575.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,503,587.48. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 27,500 shares of company stock worth $1,305,675 in the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on NiSource in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NiSource from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Evercore set a $52.00 price objective on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.30.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $45.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $22.02 billion, a PE ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.55. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $38.45 and a 1 year high of $49.21.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. NiSource had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.70%.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.