Clarius Group LLC Makes New Investment in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Clarius Group LLC purchased a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in NiSource by 88.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,902,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,608 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 53.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $176,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in NiSource by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,691,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,249,000 after buying an additional 1,247,368 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in NiSource in the third quarter worth approximately $32,162,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NiSource by 118.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after buying an additional 876,033 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

NI stock opened at $38.13 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.85 and its 200 day moving average is $34.34. The firm has a market cap of $17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.54. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $24.80 and a one year high of $38.56. 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 results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. NiSource’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NI shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research 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 stock has a consensus 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.