Premier Fund Managers Ltd Acquires New Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 92,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,180,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,519,823,000 after acquiring an additional 991,336 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 0.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,374,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,636,000 after purchasing an additional 44,598 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of NiSource by 1.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,908,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,415,000 after buying an additional 67,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,407,000 after buying an additional 1,353,977 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 0.8 %

NI stock opened at $37.11 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.76. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.80 and a 52 week high of $37.17.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.