Premier Fund Managers Ltd Makes New $3.18 Million Investment in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 92,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,180,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,519,823,000 after buying an additional 991,336 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $246,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,322 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 0.7% during the 2nd 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. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of NiSource by 1.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,908,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $141,415,000 after purchasing an additional 67,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 68.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $96,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,977 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on NI. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:NI traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.12. 521,128 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,050,015. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.80 and a twelve month high of $37.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.76. The company has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. 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 announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. NiSource's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

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.