Huge Insider Sale by High Profile Executive at Goldman Sachs, Plus Other Noteworthy Insider Transactions

Executive at Large Utility Company Buys Shares Ahead of Anticipated December Rate Hike

One member of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)’s executive team bought a block of shares last week. Pablo A. Vegas, Executive Vice President and President of the Columbia Gas Group at NiSource, disclosed Friday the purchase of 21,541 shares at a price of $21.75 per share, with the entire block of shares being held in his 401(k). Mr. Vegas also holds a direct ownership stake of 71,397 shares.

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI), one of the largest fully-regulated utility companies in the United States, attracted capital from income-seeking investors amid the low interest rate environment. Although the Federal Reserve has continually delayed a second increase in rates since its first timid move a little more than a year ago, the probability of a rate hike in December is extremely high (i.e. above 95%). Hence, the expected December rate hike from the Federal Reserve appears to explain the recent weakness in the share price performance of NiSource’s stock. Despite an 11%-drop in the past three months, NiSource’s shares are still up 11% thus far in 2016. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management added a 4.65 million-share stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) to its portfolio during the third quarter.

Insiders at Master Limited Partnership Increase Their Holdings

Two insiders at Spectra Energy Partners LP (NYSE:SEP) piled up some shares last week. To start with, President and CEO Gregory L. Ebel snapped up 8,000 shares on Thursday at prices that fell between $41.45 and $41.78 per share, boosting his ownership stake to 22,295 shares. J. D. Woodward III, elected to the company’s Board in September 2009, bought 2,500 shares on Tuesday for $42.27 each. After the not-so-distant purchase, Mr. Woodward currently owns 45,000 shares.

Spectra Energy Partners LP (NYSE:SEP) is engaged in the transmission, storage and gathering of natural gas, as well as the transportation and storage of crude oil through interstate pipeline systems. Stewart Glickman, the head of energy research at CFRA Research, has compiled a list of master limited partnerships that are least likely to have an accidental leak on the assumption that spending on maintenance can be equated with safety. According to Mr. Glickman’s calculations, Spectra Energy Partners’ maintenance spending over the period of 2011 to 2015 totaled $1.31 billion, comprising 9.4% of its average assets. As a result, the company ranked second out of 23 companies under review. The shares of Spectra Energy Partners are 12% in the red this year. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC was the owner of 398,000 shares of Spectra Energy Partners LP (NYSE:SEP) at the end of the September quarter.

The final page of this article will focus on discussing fresh insider selling observed at two well-known companies.