Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Has $897,000 Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares during the quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 146.2% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 68.1% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,977 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL bought a new stake in shares of NiSource during the first quarter worth $34,419,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,519,823,000 after purchasing an additional 991,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 118.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after purchasing an additional 876,033 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE NI opened at $36.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $17.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.67 and its 200-day moving average is $31.64. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $24.80 and a one year high of $36.74.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. NiSource’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

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.