Mackenzie Financial Corp Has $14.37 Million Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 541,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 146,700 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $14,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 16.3% during the first 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 during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 106,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,397,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 58,398 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in NiSource by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,952,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,093,000 after buying an additional 447,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in NiSource in the first quarter valued at $472,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

NiSource stock opened at $27.40 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $12.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.49. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.86 and a 52 week high of $28.95.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.11%.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $297,019.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $632,375.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

NiSource Profile

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.