Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 29,959 Shares of NiSource, Inc $NI

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 1.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,349,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,959 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in NiSource were worth $101,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 90.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 2,668.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on NI shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays set a $45.00 target price on NiSource in a report on Monday, December 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NiSource from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.11.

NiSource Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NI opened at $44.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.65. NiSource, Inc has a 12-month low of $35.64 and a 12-month high of $44.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). NiSource had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 14.15%.The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.26%.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other NiSource news, EVP Kimberly S. Cuccia sold 8,000 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $345,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,778,983.11. The trade was a 16.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About NiSource

NiSource, Inc (NYSE: NI) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, that primarily owns and operates regulated local gas and electric utilities in the United States. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company delivers natural gas and electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and provides the associated distribution and transmission services that keep local energy systems functioning.

The company’s core activities include natural gas distribution, electric transmission and distribution, system operations, maintenance and emergency response.