Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Reduces Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC cut its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,483 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in NiSource by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in NiSource by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE NI opened at $40.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.67. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.59 and a 52 week high of $40.22.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

NiSource 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.