Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,741,713 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 64,356 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.37% of NiSource worth $60,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 47.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 647,984 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,923,000 after purchasing an additional 209,451 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 131,563 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,639,000 after purchasing an additional 2,336 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in NiSource by 2.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 394,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,031,000 after buying an additional 9,039 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in NiSource by 12.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 515,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,265,000 after buying an additional 57,658 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth about $264,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

NiSource Trading Up 0.9 %

NiSource stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.33. 880,102 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,023,315. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $34.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.53. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.80 and a twelve month high of $36.52.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource 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.