NiSource (NYSE:NI) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

NiSource (NYSE:NI) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.00 million. NiSource had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.15%. NiSource’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share.

NiSource Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NI traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $35.28. The stock had a trading volume of 678,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,027,383. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.05 and its 200-day moving average is $30.95. NiSource has a 1 year low of $24.58 and a 1 year high of $35.48.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. NiSource’s payout ratio is 65.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NI. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of NiSource from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.63.

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.