State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 47,749 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in NiSource, Inc by 31%, ending with a position valued at $4.25 million after selling over 47,000 shares.
• NiSource announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.6%, set to be paid on November 20th.
• Analysts have set new price targets for NiSource, with Wells Fargo increasing its target from $43 to $45 and Barclays setting a target of $44, reflecting a generally positive outlook.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 31.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 47,749 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in NiSource were worth $4,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 185.0% during the 4th 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. 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 last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 10.1% during the 4th 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. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at about $71,839,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,389,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut NiSource from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.56.

NiSource Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE NI traded up $0.6050 on Friday, hitting $42.8950. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,793,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,984,127. NiSource, Inc has a 52-week low of $32.51 and a 52-week high of $43.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $41.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.82. The firm has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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. Research analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.57%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

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

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.