Blue Trust Inc. Has $137,000 Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 884 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 423.6% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NI. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

NI stock opened at $40.09 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.59 and a fifty-two week high of $40.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.60. The company has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.14%.

Insider Activity

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.