Insider Selling: NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) CAO Sells 5,500 Shares of Stock

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $39.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $25.45 and a one year high of $39.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.42.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NI. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

Institutional Trading of NiSource

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.