EP Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $489,000 in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 14,099 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NI. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in NiSource during the 3rd quarter valued at about $888,000. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 10.4% in the third quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 14,015 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 77.2% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 13,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 6,080 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $786,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in NiSource by 7.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 88,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,060,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.52. 1,233,962 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,028,697. The company has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.73. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.80 and a fifty-two week high of $38.56.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $986.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS 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.