Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 20,444 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,444 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter worth $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in NiSource during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in NiSource in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

NiSource Trading Down 0.3 %

NiSource stock opened at $38.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.16. The company has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.80 and a 52 week high of $38.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current 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.