Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 837 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth $66,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE NI opened at $39.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.87. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.26 and a one year high of $41.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on NI. UBS Group boosted their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.33.

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.