Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Cuts Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC cut its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 240,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,258 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in NiSource were worth $8,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NI stock opened at $37.28 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.42. The stock has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.80 and a 12 month high of $38.56.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. NiSource’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect 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.