LMR Partners LLP Makes New $821,000 Investment in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 23,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $821,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NI. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 45,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,519,823,000 after acquiring an additional 991,336 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in NiSource in the 1st quarter valued at $321,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in NiSource by 631.2% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 38,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 33,620 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in NiSource by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 438,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $37.11 on Wednesday. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.80 and a 52-week high of $37.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.81 and its 200-day moving average is $31.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on NI shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource 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.