Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Cuts Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,899,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 132,527 shares during the quarter. NiSource accounts for approximately 1.6% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $135,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NI. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of NiSource by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,352,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,852,000 after purchasing an additional 273,159 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in NiSource by 9.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 138,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,805,000 after purchasing an additional 11,408 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in NiSource during the third quarter valued at $1,631,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource in the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 1.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $37.06 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.75 and a 200 day moving average of $32.56. 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 $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.53. NiSource Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.80 and a 12 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 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 net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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.