NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) Shares Acquired by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 793.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 883,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 784,495 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in NiSource were worth $30,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the second quarter valued at $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NiSource in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America started coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $36.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.79. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.80 and a twelve month high of $38.56.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. NiSource’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research 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.