Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 4.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 88,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $3,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares 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 purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake 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 worth $1,548,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel raised its holdings in NiSource by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 62,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $38.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.80 and a 1 year high of $38.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.08.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm 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%. NiSource’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current 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.