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

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%.

NiSource has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. NiSource has a payout ratio of 57.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Price Performance

NYSE NI traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,993,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,242,760. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.63 and a 200 day moving average of $28.04. NiSource has a one year low of $22.86 and a one year high of $32.38.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts expect that NiSource will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Mizuho initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In related news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $104,626.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.