Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Invests $201,000 in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $35.96 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.61 and a 1-year high of $36.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.47.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 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 the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently 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.