California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,582,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,609 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.62% of NiSource worth $68,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,111,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $323,582,000 after acquiring an additional 39,374 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,101,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,952,000 after acquiring an additional 326,999 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,070,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $125,149,000 after acquiring an additional 865,245 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,400,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,605,000 after acquiring an additional 319,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 10.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 4,014,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,076,000 after buying an additional 382,569 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.3 %

NI stock opened at $28.10 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.85. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.86 and a fifty-two week high of $28.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.