Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases Shares of 207,121 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 207,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,177,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NiSource in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in NiSource during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

NiSource Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:NI opened at $38.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.16. The company has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. NiSource Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.56.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal 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.