NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Stake Boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 3.19% of NiSource worth $516,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in NiSource by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $786,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,368 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,396,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $394,888,000 after purchasing an additional 99,882 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,823,095 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,020,000 after purchasing an additional 316,225 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in NiSource by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,747,328 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $371,139,000 after buying an additional 178,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 44,598 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NI. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,929,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,012,992. 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 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.56. The stock has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.38.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.