BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Buys Shares of 928,199 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 928,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,162,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.20% of NiSource at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on NI. Barclays boosted their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

NiSource Price Performance

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $37.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. NiSource Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.80 and a 52-week high of $38.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.04 and a 200-day moving average of $31.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current 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.