Insider Selling: NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) EVP Sells 6,227 Shares of Stock

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $38.89. The company had a trading volume of 158,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,104,440. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $27.83 and a one year high of $41.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.32.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in NiSource by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 21,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth about $148,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth about $37,114,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in NiSource by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,319 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

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.