B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC Sells 7,220 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,220 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $2,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Private Advisor Group LLC grew 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 valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 66.2% in 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 holdings 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 worth $62,093,000 after buying an additional 447,102 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth approximately $472,000. 94.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NI. UBS Group raised shares of NiSource from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of the 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 approximately $828,254. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $130,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $828,254. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $27.67. 5,585,462 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,060,600. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.48. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.78 and a 12-month high of $29.44.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.00% and a return on equity of 10.90%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. Analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 30th. NiSource’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.44%.

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 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.