Sit Investment Associates Inc. Lowers Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. cut its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,280 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. owned about 0.07% of NiSource worth $11,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at about $245,000. Walleye Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1,412.3% during the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 18,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 16,990 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in NiSource by 31.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 36,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 8,764 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in NiSource by 49.0% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 14,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in NiSource in the third quarter worth $93,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $37.23 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.09 and its 200 day moving average is $37.05.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on NI shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.33.

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.