Community Trust & Investment Co. Decreases Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Community Trust & Investment Co. decreased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 33.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,879 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 39,959 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,124,492,000 after buying an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $785,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,334 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in NiSource by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $419,765,000 after acquiring an additional 700,747 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 185.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $301,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,262 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $152,880.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale 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 that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.18 on Monday, reaching $39.34. 3,758,365 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,134,805. The firm's 50-day moving average is $39.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.41. The company has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.83 and a 52 week high of $41.45.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised 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. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective 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 increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

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.