NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Holdings Lowered by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC lowered its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 64.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,300 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the second quarter worth approximately $213,000. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at $286,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in NiSource by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 754,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,742,000 after purchasing an additional 36,466 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 7.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,323,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,958,000 after purchasing an additional 157,236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI opened at $38.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.80 and a 12-month high of $38.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.20.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.