GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 3,689 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 25.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NI. ING Groep NV bought a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth about $748,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after buying an additional 6,991,608 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter worth about $3,068,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 8.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,865,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,757,000 after acquiring an additional 144,197 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in NiSource during the third quarter valued at approximately $798,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $36.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.50 and its 200 day moving average is $33.68. The stock has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted 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. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About NiSource

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.