Rothschild Investment LLC Sells 391 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Rothschild Investment LLC trimmed its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 391 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,618,000 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 NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in NiSource by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,078 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,162,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in NiSource by 793.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,609,000 after purchasing an additional 784,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $39.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $18.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.59 and a 12-month high of $40.29.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

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.