Intech Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 206,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 108,834 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $7,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter worth about $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $50,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI opened at $37.82 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $37.94. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

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

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.