NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,812 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 41.4% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in NiSource by 82.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,375.20. The sale 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 Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NI opened at $28.10 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $28.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $12.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on NI. Barclays upped their price objective on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th.

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.