Natixis Advisors L.P. Purchases 1,818 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,818 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $5,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,614 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 106,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 20,064 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 66.2% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 146,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,660,000 after purchasing an additional 58,398 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,952,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,093,000 after purchasing an additional 447,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth about $472,000. Institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NI shares. StockNews.com cut shares of NiSource from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 22nd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.00.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE:NI opened at $26.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $11.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.47. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.78 and a 52 week high of $30.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 12.00% and a return on equity of 10.90%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. NiSource’s payout ratio is currently 69.44%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, EVP Donald Eugene Brown sold 14,000 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.64, for a total value of $372,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,989,085.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other NiSource news, EVP Donald Eugene Brown sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.64, for a total value of $372,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,989,085.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $130,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $828,254. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company 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 through two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 859,000 customers in northern Indiana, as well as approximately 2.4 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.