Clarius Group LLC Acquires Shares of 5,877 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Clarius Group LLC bought a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter worth about $50,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $38.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.34. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.80 and a 52-week high of $38.56. 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 (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $986.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.