Cresset Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Cresset Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 76.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 27,433 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in NiSource were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,124,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,452 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $785,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,334 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in NiSource by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $419,765,000 after acquiring an additional 700,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $301,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,262 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.49. The stock had a trading volume of 4,669,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,155,483. The company has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.60 and a 1-year high of $41.45. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.07.

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

NiSource Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average 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.