BROOKFIELD Corp ON Sells 666,956 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• BROOKFIELD Corp ON reduced its stake in NiSource, Inc by 26.5%, now holding approximately 1.8 million shares, which represents about 0.4% of its portfolio with a value of around $74 million.
• In Q1, several institutional investors increased their positions in NiSource, with MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increasing its stake by 64.2%.
• NiSource recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, with the payment date set for November 20th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.7%.

BROOKFIELD Corp ON trimmed its holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 26.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,847,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 666,956 shares during the quarter. NiSource accounts for about 0.4% of BROOKFIELD Corp ON's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. BROOKFIELD Corp ON owned approximately 0.39% of NiSource worth $74,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in NiSource by 64.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in NiSource by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,370 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in NiSource by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered NiSource from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of NiSource to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.88.

NiSource Stock Up 0.6%

NI traded up $0.23 on Wednesday, hitting $39.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,615,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,459,757. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.60. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $33.32 and a 52-week high of $43.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 8.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

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.