Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Sells 8,972 Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Key Points

• Pathway Financial Advisers LLC decreased its stake in NiSource by 41.1%, leaving it with 12,844 shares valued at approximately $515,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC and Larson Financial Group LLC, adjusted their positions in NiSource, with most transactions occurring in the 1st quarter.
• Analysts have raised NiSource's price targets to as high as $45.00, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC decreased its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 41.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,972 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth about $7,235,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth about $309,000. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 29.8% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 14,294 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 3,279 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.5% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 41,173 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,651,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.3% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 618,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,801,000 after buying an additional 19,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NI. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,260,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,042,133. NiSource, Inc has a 1-year low of $30.53 and a 1-year high of $42.90. The stock has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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 (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 company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.54%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of NiSource 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.