Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 178,365 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 178,365 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.30% of NiSource worth $371,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in NiSource by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of NiSource by 0.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $394,888,000 after purchasing an additional 99,882 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,823,095 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $375,020,000 after purchasing an additional 316,225 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,374,053 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $183,636,000 after purchasing an additional 44,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in NiSource by 53.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $176,194,000 after buying an additional 1,782,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Up 0.1 %

NiSource stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,556,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,034,476. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.80 and a 52-week high of $38.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.94 and a 200 day moving average of $32.83. The firm has a market cap of $17.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.50.

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.