Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 17.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 37,097 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in NiSource were worth $6,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in NiSource by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 44.7% during the first 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. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NI. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director now owns 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $701,035.21. This represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock valued at $631,939 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Up 1.0%

NiSource stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Thursday, reaching $39.85. 3,664,166 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,131,123. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $38.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.39. The company has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.83 and a 52-week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.54%.

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.