NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Holdings Reduced by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 163,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,416 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 48,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NiSource Stock Down 1.0 %

NI stock opened at $38.66 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.04 and a 12 month high of $41.44. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

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 quarter last year, the business earned $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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.