JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 6,991,608 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 3.19% of NiSource worth $516,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 2.1% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NiSource by 12.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in NiSource by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in NiSource by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NI stock opened at $36.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $24.80 and a one year high of $38.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.38. The company has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.53.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 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 business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on NI shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.