NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) is ExodusPoint Capital Management LP’s 8th Largest Position

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lessened its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 42.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,394,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,465,152 shares during the period. NiSource comprises 0.9% of ExodusPoint Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP’s holdings in NiSource were worth $124,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,124,492,000 after buying an additional 2,459,452 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in NiSource by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,448,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,765,000 after acquiring an additional 700,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $195,745,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $40.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.01. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.26 and a 52 week high of $41.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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 dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total value of $219,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $988,339.36. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.33.

About NiSource

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.