Michael E. Jesanis Sells 6,178 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at $701,035.21. This represents a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

NiSource Price Performance

NI opened at $39.09 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.99. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.60 and a 52-week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. 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 earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in NiSource by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,844,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,439,236,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050,420 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,020,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $962,997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,827 shares during the period. 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 worth $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,577,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $464,155,000 after purchasing an additional 857,653 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $419,765,000 after purchasing an additional 700,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

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.