Cetera Investment Advisers Reduces Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,684 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,370 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in NiSource were worth $2,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NI. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,852,000 after purchasing an additional 273,159 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 32,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,073,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,162,775. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock's 50-day moving average is $39.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.60 and a 52 week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is 60.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NI. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of 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. boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

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.