Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $6.89 Million Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 17.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 37,097 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $6,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in NiSource by 64.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 44.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NI opened at $39.27 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.95 and a 200 day moving average of $38.36. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.83 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.03 billion during 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,528.44. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.