First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lowered its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 234,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,345 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $8,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $748,000. Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in NiSource by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,850,000 after purchasing an additional 16,364 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,720,000 after buying an additional 483,491 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in NiSource by 88.4% during the third 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. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,068,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI opened at $37.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.56. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.80 and a 1 year high of $38.83. The stock has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on NI. Mizuho upped their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

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.