NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Purchased by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,471,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,093 shares during the period. NiSource comprises about 0.4% of Verition Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $85,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in NiSource by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank raised its position in shares of NiSource by 0.7% in the second quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 53,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 62,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,803,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI opened at $38.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.80 and a 52-week high of $38.56. The firm has a market cap of $17.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.28 and its 200-day moving average is $32.12.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. NiSource’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 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.