Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 385 Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NIFree Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 385 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in NiSource by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,793,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,124,492,000 after buying an additional 2,459,452 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in NiSource by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,370,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,334 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 6.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 700,747 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 185.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 9,244,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in NiSource by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NiSource

In other news, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $233,590.18. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $701,035.21. The trade was a 24.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $245,468.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NiSource Stock Down 0.3%

NiSource stock opened at $39.25 on Wednesday. NiSource, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $27.83 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The stock has a market cap of $18.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.52.

NiSource (NYSE:NIGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is 60.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NI. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group lifted 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Get Our Latest Research Report on NiSource

About NiSource

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NIFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for NiSource (NYSE:NI)

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