NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stock Position Lessened by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,144,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 506,137 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in NiSource were worth $152,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its position in NiSource by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 72,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 11,960 shares during the period. Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $775,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 599,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,024,000 after buying an additional 12,885 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 292,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,765,000 after buying an additional 87,423 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $39.32 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.26 and a 52-week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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