TCW Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,520,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 128,371 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc. owned 0.33% of NiSource worth $52,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NI. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of NiSource by 424.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 68,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,901,000 after acquiring an additional 55,620 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 11,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 4,324 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NiSource by 52.3% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 5,157 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 17.5% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 85,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,461,000 after buying an additional 12,697 shares during the period. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in NiSource by 5.9% in the second quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,777 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NI traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $36.76. The stock had a trading volume of 4,180,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,034,788. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.82 and a 200-day moving average of $32.68. The firm has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.53. 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.

NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The company's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. 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. Barclays increased their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.