Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,914,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,008 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.84% of NiSource worth $135,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 598,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,551,000 after acquiring an additional 20,060 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in NiSource during the third quarter worth approximately $748,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in NiSource in the first quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of NiSource by 57.6% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 115,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 42,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,865,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,757,000 after buying an additional 144,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Trading Down 0.4 %

NI opened at $37.71 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.95. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.07. 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 data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. 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 for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.