Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $15.52 Million Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 422,081 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 27,500 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of NiSource worth $15,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in NiSource by 2.1% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 3.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 1.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Performance

NI traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,496,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,740,236. 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NI. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.50.

About NiSource

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.