The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 10.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,322,812 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 147,835 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.28% of NiSource worth $45,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NI. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in NiSource by 3.5% in the first 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. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 57.6% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 115,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 42,104 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in NiSource by 7.5% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC acquired a new position in NiSource in the first quarter valued at $200,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NI traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.09. 2,276,756 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,027,122. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.16. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $17.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.