B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Invests $798,000 in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $798,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 3.5% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 23,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in NiSource by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 8.2% in the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 25,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth $821,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,330,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,095,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho upped their price target 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 started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NI traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $37.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,678,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,174,931. The stock's 50 day moving average is $35.04 and its 200 day moving average is $31.92. The firm has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.80 and a 1 year high of $38.07.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company 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 company posted $0.19 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.