M&T Bank Corp Reduces Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $1,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 153.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,758 shares in the company, valued at $988,339.36. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $38.44 on Monday. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.04 and a 12-month high of $41.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.23.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 69.14%.

NiSource Company 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.