Washington Trust Bank Sells 10,806 Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Washington Trust Bank reduced its holdings in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,806 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank's holdings in NiSource were worth $7,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.9% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,303 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $39.62. 3,148,399 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,125,226. NiSource, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $28.42 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. 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 stock has a market cap of $18.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.72.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 14.67%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.50.

NiSource 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.