BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires Shares of 928,199 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 928,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,162,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 2.1% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank increased its position in shares of NiSource by 0.7% during the second quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 53,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 3.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in NiSource by 0.7% in the second quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 62,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,803,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $37.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.90. 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.07.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NI shares. Mizuho upped their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.