NiSource Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.27 (NYSE:NI)

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 13th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.265 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st.

NiSource has raised its dividend by an average of 6.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. NiSource has a dividend payout ratio of 57.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect NiSource to earn $1.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.6%.

NiSource Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NI opened at $31.32 on Tuesday. NiSource has a twelve month low of $22.86 and a twelve month high of $31.55. The firm has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.04 and a 200-day moving average of $27.66.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that NiSource will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on NI. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price target on NiSource from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Mizuho initiated coverage on NiSource in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on NiSource from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.