Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Invests $591,000 in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,051 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $591,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 598,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,551,000 after acquiring an additional 20,060 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $748,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in NiSource during the first quarter worth $487,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 57.6% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 115,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 42,104 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in NiSource by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,865,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,757,000 after purchasing an additional 144,197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI remained flat at $38.25 during midday trading on Wednesday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,431,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,034,731. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.08.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho lifted their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.