The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,170,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 152,164 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.25% of NiSource worth $43,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 23,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $877,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,116,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 30,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,364 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

NI stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 648,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,148,330. The company has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's 50-day moving average is $39.17 and its 200-day moving average is $37.78. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.60 and a 12 month high of $41.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NI shares. Mizuho upped their target price on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.