NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) to Issue $0.27 Quarterly Dividend

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 13th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.265 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%.

NiSource has increased its dividend by an average of 6.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. NiSource has a payout ratio of 57.6% indicating that 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 traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,993,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,242,760. NiSource has a 1-year low of $22.86 and a 1-year high of $32.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.04. 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 firm has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on NI shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Insider Transactions at NiSource

In other news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About NiSource

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.