Sit Investment Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• Sit Investment Associates Inc. has reduced its stake in NiSource, Inc. by 9.5%, selling 29,905 shares and retaining approximately 285,455 shares valued at $11.44 million.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments on NiSource, with JPMorgan and Wells Fargo raising their price targets, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from "hold" to "sell."
• NiSource announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, with a record date of October 31st, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.6%.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lessened its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,455 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 29,905 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc. owned about 0.06% of NiSource worth $11,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.24 on Monday, hitting $41.71. The company had a trading volume of 2,796,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,519,443. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $31.90 and a 1 year high of $43.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.74 and a 200-day moving average of $39.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.59.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is 59.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on NI. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.56.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.