NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Director Sells $233,590.18 in Stock

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 this hyperlink.

NiSource Price Performance

NiSource stock opened at $38.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $27.60 and a one year high of $41.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.96.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 60.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NI. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays upped their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in NiSource by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in NiSource by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in NiSource by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 50,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.