Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Sells 119,257 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lowered its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,310,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 119,257 shares during the quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned 0.28% of NiSource worth $48,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth $219,977,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $195,745,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $301,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,262 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after buying an additional 2,459,452 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NI traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.94. 796,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,153,533. The company has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.60 and a 12-month high of $41.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.96.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on NI shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group upped 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is 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.