Verition Fund Management LLC Has $85.63 Million Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,471,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,093 shares during the quarter. NiSource accounts for about 0.4% of Verition Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Verition Fund Management LLC owned approximately 0.53% of NiSource worth $85,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $176,194,000 after buying an additional 1,782,078 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in NiSource in the third quarter valued at about $32,162,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NiSource by 118.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after acquiring an additional 876,033 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of NiSource by 5,767.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 827,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,851,000 after purchasing an additional 813,770 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,056,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NI has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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. Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $38.25 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.12. NiSource Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.80 and a 1 year high of $38.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51.

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

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.