Proficio Capital Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 96.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 165,907 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Lincoln Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,556,000. Capital International Inc. CA bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,612,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of NiSource by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,075,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,291,000 after purchasing an additional 43,608 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 14.0% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 358,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,371,000 after purchasing an additional 43,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartree Partners LP bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,977,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Guggenheim increased 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

NiSource Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:NI traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.21. 2,934,764 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,543,726. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $30.53 and a 12-month high of $42.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.11.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is 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.