Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 2,184 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,184 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in NiSource were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $748,000. Thomasville National Bank grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,850,000 after buying an additional 16,364 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in NiSource by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 483,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,068,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $40.10 on Thursday. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $25.45 and a one year high of $40.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.28 and its 200 day moving average is $35.51. The stock has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results 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 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

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.