Sanctuary Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 25,018 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in NiSource by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 436,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,115,000 after acquiring an additional 26,572 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 249.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 22,066 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 61,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 13,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in NiSource by 148.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 53,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 32,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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, Mizuho lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $40.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.63. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.59 and a fifty-two week high of $40.22.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 69.14%.

NiSource Company 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.