Gen Wealth Partners Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Gen Wealth Partners Inc cut its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 45.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc’s holdings in NiSource were worth $51,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in NiSource by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on NI. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays increased their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $39.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.60 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

NiSource Company 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.