NiSource, Inc $NI Shares Sold by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its stake in NiSource, Inc by 26.6%, selling 463,977 shares and now holding 1,281,776 shares, valued at approximately $50.95 million.
• Pursuant to recent analyst ratings, Wall Street Zen downgraded NiSource from a "hold" to a "sell," while other analysts have varied opinions, resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $43.11.
• NiSource recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, with a 2.8% annualized dividend yield, set to be paid on November 20th.

Amundi decreased its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 26.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,281,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 463,977 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.27% of NiSource worth $50,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NI. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in NiSource by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in NiSource by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 302,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,113,000 after acquiring an additional 126,911 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in NiSource by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 12,140 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 3,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 124.5% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 52,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,945,000 after buying an additional 29,343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.88.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,379,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,861,427. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $33.32 and a one year high of $43.51. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $41.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.05.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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 Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.57%.

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.