Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,914,196 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,008 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.84% of NiSource worth $135,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NI. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter worth approximately $321,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter worth $487,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in NiSource by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 598,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,551,000 after acquiring an additional 20,060 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in NiSource by 57.6% during the first 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. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded up $0.24 on Monday, hitting $37.95. 4,208,945 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,050,686. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.80 and a 12-month high of $38.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $35.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.95.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $986.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. NiSource's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Company 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.