Bank of Montreal Can Increases Stock Holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,124,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,782,078 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in NiSource were worth $176,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NI. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in NiSource during the second quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in NiSource during the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $37.96 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. The firm has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.01. NiSource Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.80 and a fifty-two week high of $38.22.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

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.