NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA reduced its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 319,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 75,756 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in NiSource were worth $11,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in NiSource by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in NiSource by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $394,888,000 after buying an additional 99,882 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,823,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $375,020,000 after buying an additional 316,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,139,000 after buying an additional 178,365 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $40.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.63. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $25.59 and a one year high of $40.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.14%.

About NiSource

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.