NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stake Reduced by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,741 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in NiSource by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in NiSource by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

NiSource Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:NI opened at $41.24 on Tuesday. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.98 and a 1 year high of $41.30. The stock has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.93 and a 200-day moving average of $36.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.14%.

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.