First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Stock Holdings in NiSource, Inc $NI

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 32.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,437,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 699,863 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in NiSource were worth $67,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 15,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in NiSource by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 18,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its stake in NiSource by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 8,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 15,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 23,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NiSource in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore set a $52.00 price target on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.30.

Key NiSource News

Here are the key news stories impacting NiSource this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp kept an Overweight rating on NiSource and reiterated a $50 price target, implying upside from current levels and signaling continued analyst confidence in the utility’s valuation. Benzinga report
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its FY2027, FY2028, and FY2029 EPS estimates for NiSource, suggesting improving earnings power over the next several years and supporting the stock’s longer-term investment case.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly initiated or maintained a Buy view on NiSource, adding to the positive analyst backdrop around the stock. Nisource (NI) Gets a Buy from Wells Fargo
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp trimmed near-term EPS estimates for Q2, Q3, and Q4 2026, which may temper enthusiasm somewhat, but the reductions were relatively small and did not change the firm’s overall positive stance.
• Neutral Sentiment: Consensus full-year earnings remain at about $2.05 per share, so the latest analyst revisions do not materially alter the broad earnings outlook yet.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.68, for a total transaction of $715,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,003.20. This represents a 29.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Melody Birmingham sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total transaction of $118,575.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,036 shares in the company, valued at $5,503,587.48. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,305,675 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $46.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.26. NiSource, Inc has a 1 year low of $38.45 and a 1 year high of $49.21.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 14.15%.The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. NiSource has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.70%.

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.