Community Trust & Investment Co. Increases Stock Position in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its stake in NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 117,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,299 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $4,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in NiSource in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of NiSource in the second quarter valued at $47,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NiSource in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NiSource Price Performance

NiSource stock opened at $36.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. 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 data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho raised their price target 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. upped their price objective on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

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.