NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Bought by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 53.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 1.10% of NiSource worth $176,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in NiSource by 3.5% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 598,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,551,000 after buying an additional 20,060 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $748,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in NiSource in the first quarter valued at about $487,000. Comerica Bank raised its stake in NiSource by 57.6% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 115,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 42,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in NiSource by 8.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,865,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,757,000 after buying an additional 144,197 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Performance

NiSource stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.23. 1,811,742 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,041,528. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.80 and a fifty-two week high of $38.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. NiSource's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NI. Barclays increased their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.