Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. Sells 1,500 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 25,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in NiSource by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 362,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,343,000 after acquiring an additional 15,211 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in NiSource by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 133,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,900,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 203.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 101,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,713,000 after purchasing an additional 67,759 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho raised their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $37.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.80 and a 1 year high of $38.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.95 and a 200-day moving average of $34.81.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 64.24%.

NiSource Company 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.