Metis Global Partners LLC Decreases Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,741 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $41.24 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.04. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.98 and a 52-week high of $41.30. The firm has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. 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 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.