Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in NiSource by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,946,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,519,823,000 after purchasing an additional 991,336 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource by 146.2% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 8,907,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,388,000 after buying an additional 5,290,322 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in NiSource by 0.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,374,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,636,000 after buying an additional 44,598 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in NiSource by 1.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,908,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,415,000 after acquiring an additional 67,697 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in NiSource by 68.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,342,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353,977 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NI shares. 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 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. Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Up 0.8 %

NI opened at $37.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a one year low of $24.80 and a one year high of $37.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued 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. The company 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%. NiSource’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.