Premier Fund Managers Ltd Decreases Position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd reduced its stake in NiSource, Inc by 10%, now owning 90,000 shares valued at approximately $3.59 million.
• Insider sales included Melanie B. Berman selling 6,227 shares and Michael E. Jesanis selling 6,178 shares, indicating significant decreases in their ownership percentages.
• NiSource announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28, with a payment date set for August 20th, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.71%.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd cut its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in NiSource were worth $3,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NI. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 13.5% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 37,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,397 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its holdings in NiSource by 5.1% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 307,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,344,000 after purchasing an additional 15,033 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 2.9% in the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 1,753,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $70,314,000 after purchasing an additional 49,840 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 29.9% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 234,234 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,390,000 after purchasing an additional 53,972 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 4.8% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 14,427 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NI stock traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $42.58. 2,072,125 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,508,646. The company has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.01 and a 200-day moving average of $39.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45. NiSource, Inc has a one year low of $30.53 and a one year high of $42.90.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the sale, the director owned 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. This represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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