Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 32.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 531,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 252,850 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of NiSource worth $19,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 110.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 567,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,850,000 after purchasing an additional 16,364 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,720,000 after purchasing an additional 483,491 shares during the period. 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. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter valued at $566,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 1.9 %

NI opened at $39.21 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.28. The company has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.26 and a 52 week high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 insiders.

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.