Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its NiSource stake by 4.6% in the first quarter, selling 81,884 shares and ending with 1.71 million shares valued at about $80 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly constructive: NiSource has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $50.50, though one firm recently downgraded the stock to sell.
• The utility reported EPS of $1.06 in its latest quarter, matched estimates, and reiterated FY 2026 guidance of $2.02 to $2.07 per share while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,713,756 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 81,884 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of NiSource worth $79,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 60.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 30,494 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,223,000 after buying an additional 11,452 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of NiSource by 41.6% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 39,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 11,671 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth approximately $105,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 49,220 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,054,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Evercore set a $52.00 target price on NiSource in a report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.50.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI opened at $46.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $47.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.12. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $38.45 and a 52-week high of $49.21. The company has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.55.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 8.31%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 15,000 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.68, for a total value of $715,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,003.20. This trade represents a 29.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.19, for a total value of $471,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 117,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,563,653.81. This trade represents a 7.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 27,500 shares of company stock worth $1,305,675 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

NiSource Company Profile

NiSource, Inc NYSE: NI is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company's core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.

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