B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 23,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $798,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in NiSource by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 23,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in NiSource by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 25,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at about $821,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,330,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,095,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI opened at $37.71 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $24.80 and a one year high of $38.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.04 and its 200-day moving average is $31.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. 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.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. NiSource’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

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.