Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 40,339 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in NiSource by 5.5%, selling 40,339 shares to hold 690,674 shares valued at $27.68 million as per their latest SEC filing.
• NiSource's price target estimates have increased, with JPMorgan and Barclays raising targets to $43.00 and $44.00 respectively, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to a "sell" rating.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, which will be payable on November 20th, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.7%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 690,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 40,339 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.15% of NiSource worth $27,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,439,236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,050,420 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in NiSource by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $785,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,334 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 8.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,577,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $464,155,000 after purchasing an additional 857,653 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 185.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $339,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter worth about $219,977,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised NiSource to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NiSource presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.56.

NiSource Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NI traded up $0.1850 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.4650. The stock had a trading volume of 1,165,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,485,661. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.73. NiSource, Inc has a twelve month low of $32.10 and a twelve month high of $43.51. The firm has a market cap of $20.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.57%.

About NiSource

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.