Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 483,491 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,712,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 483,491 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.58% of NiSource worth $99,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in NiSource by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of NiSource by 4.1% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in NiSource by 1.6% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,426,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,239,466. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.08. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.80 and a fifty-two 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. The stock has a market cap of $17.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $986.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.