The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,322,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 147,835 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.28% of NiSource worth $45,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in NiSource by 53.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $176,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the third quarter worth $8,167,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in NiSource in the third quarter worth $591,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in NiSource by 4.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 88,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,064,000 after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the third quarter worth $325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI opened at $38.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.51. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.80 and a 52-week high of $38.56.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Company 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.