Hennessy Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 405,381 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,700 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of NiSource worth $16,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NI. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in NiSource by 185.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $339,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $219,977,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $195,745,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in NiSource by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,124,492,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at $944,760.18. This represents a 13.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.3%

NiSource stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.25. 4,397,638 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,135,852. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $18.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $27.83 and a one year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

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.