Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 5,129 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 360,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,129 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in NiSource were worth $9,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Tobam increased its holdings in NiSource by 3,994.6% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 2,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in NiSource by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,609 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $28.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,112,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,308,409. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $29.44. The company has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.66.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on NI shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.71.

NiSource 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.