Swiss National Bank Sells 63,200 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,267,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 63,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in NiSource were worth $46,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank increased its holdings in NiSource by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in NiSource by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE NI opened at $39.48 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.35 and a 200-day moving average of $36.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.25 and a 52 week high of $41.44. 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 released its earnings results 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 last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

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.