Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Stock Holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 877,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,827 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.19% of NiSource worth $35,184,000 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 company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in NiSource by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE:NI traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.53. The stock had a trading volume of 4,266,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,121,904. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.52. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $28.29 and a one year high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 14.67%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is 60.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. 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 research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.