NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) is Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's 3rd Largest Position

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd cut its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 183,456 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,812 shares during the period. NiSource accounts for approximately 4.8% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's holdings in NiSource were worth $7,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in NiSource by 64.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in NiSource by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in NiSource by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted 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 target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $39.63. The stock had a trading volume of 4,714,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,124,846. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock's 50 day moving average is $39.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.54. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $28.42 and a 1 year high of $41.45. The stock has a market cap of $18.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is 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.