Atom Investors LP Takes Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Atom Investors LP acquired a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 77,190 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,675,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 57.6% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 115,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 42,104 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in NiSource by 424.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 68,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,901,000 after purchasing an additional 55,620 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in NiSource by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 11,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in NiSource by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 177,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE NI traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $37.23. 502,481 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,009,003. The firm has a market cap of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.50.

About NiSource

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.