Everence Capital Management Inc. Has $403,000 Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Everence Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,100 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 289.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 valued at $516,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,243,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,751,000 after buying an additional 255,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 793.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 883,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,609,000 after buying an additional 784,495 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 lifted their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $36.39 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.72. The firm has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.80 and a 12 month high of $38.56.

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

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.