Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,213,552 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 121,187 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of NiSource worth $88,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 4.4% in the fourth 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. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $785,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,334 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $419,765,000 after purchasing an additional 700,747 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 185.0% in the fourth 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth 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. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NI shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

NiSource Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.06 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.62. 3,148,399 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,125,226. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $28.42 and a 52-week high of $41.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business's fifty day moving average is $39.35 and its 200-day moving average is $38.75.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.54%.

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.