NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in NiSource were worth $1,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,888,000 after purchasing an additional 99,882 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,823,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,020,000 after purchasing an additional 316,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,139,000 after purchasing an additional 178,365 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $40.09 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.59 and a 52 week high of $40.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54.

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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on NI. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.