Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 259,978 Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,001,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 259,978 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.85% of NiSource worth $160,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of 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 lifted their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

NiSource Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.41. 368,194 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,116,695. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $29.37 and a 1-year high of $41.45. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $39.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 14.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

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.