NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 101,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,937 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in NiSource by 53.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in NiSource in the third quarter worth $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 793.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,609,000 after acquiring an additional 784,495 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.59 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $26.26 and a one year high of $41.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.