Xponance Inc. Sells 5,168 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Xponance Inc. reduced its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,168 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,111,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,582,000 after acquiring an additional 39,374 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in NiSource by 4.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,101,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,952,000 after purchasing an additional 326,999 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 20.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,070,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,149,000 after purchasing an additional 865,245 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 7.8% in the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,400,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,605,000 after buying an additional 319,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 10.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 4,014,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,076,000 after buying an additional 382,569 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $28.19 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.86 and a 1-year high of $28.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.26.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.11%.

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.