Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Sells 2,724 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp cut its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 24.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,724 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $237,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 13,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in NiSource by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in NiSource by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on NI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays upped their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.1 %

NI opened at $28.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.31 and a 200-day moving average of $27.09. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.86 and a fifty-two week high of $29.44. The company has a market capitalization of $12.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.28%.

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.