NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) is HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s 10th Largest Position

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 53.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 759,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 858,009 shares during the period. NiSource accounts for 3.0% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned about 0.16% of NiSource worth $26,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of NiSource by 53.3% in the 3rd 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. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the third quarter valued at $32,162,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in NiSource by 118.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,616,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,449,000 after purchasing an additional 876,033 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in NiSource by 5,767.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 827,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,851,000 after buying an additional 813,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of NiSource by 59.4% in the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 1,391,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,103,000 after acquiring an additional 518,873 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

NYSE NI opened at $37.35 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $24.80 and a fifty-two week high of $38.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.27.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.