Gunnar Gode Sells 5,500 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

NiSource Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NI opened at $39.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.54. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $25.45 and a one year high of $40.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in NiSource by 31.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 436,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,115,000 after acquiring an additional 26,572 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $234,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 249.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 22,066 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in NiSource by 27.4% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 61,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 13,171 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target 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 increased their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.