NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by Archer Investment Corp

Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 696.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,700 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in NiSource were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NiSource during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

NYSE NI traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.15. The stock had a trading volume of 176,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,020,147. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.53. The company has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.80 and a 52-week high of $36.47.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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%. NiSource’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NiSource has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Company 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.