Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 385 Shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of NiSource, Inc (NYSE:NI) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 385 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NI. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

NiSource Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NI opened at $39.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.13 and its 200-day moving average is $38.42. NiSource, Inc has a 12 month low of $27.83 and a 12 month high of $41.45.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. NiSource had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 8.41%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NiSource, Inc will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is 60.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NiSource news, EVP Melanie B. Berman sold 6,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $245,468.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,528.44. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael E. Jesanis sold 6,178 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $233,590.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $701,035.21. This trade represents a 24.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,405 shares of company stock worth $631,939. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.