DRW Securities LLC Makes New Investment in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 235,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,167,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NI. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 68.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,977 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth $32,162,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 118.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after purchasing an additional 876,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5,767.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 827,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,851,000 after purchasing an additional 813,770 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Barclays increased their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Down 0.4 %

NiSource stock opened at $37.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.95. 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 twelve month low of $24.80 and a twelve month high of $38.07. The company has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

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.