NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 83,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,821 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 20.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,070,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,149,000 after buying an additional 865,245 shares during the period. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 2,786,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,980,000 after buying an additional 568,980 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth $13,918,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 65.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,191,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,394,000 after buying an additional 469,500 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 10.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 4,014,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,076,000 after buying an additional 382,569 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 11,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total value of $297,019.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,720 shares in the company, valued at $632,375.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $27.94 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.86 and a 12 month high of $28.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $26.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.30. The company has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49.

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

NiSource Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 72.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NI. StockNews.com raised NiSource from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on NiSource from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

About NiSource

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.