NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.28 Per Share

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.28 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. This is an increase from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27.

NiSource has increased its dividend by an average of 6.4% per year over the last three years. NiSource has a payout ratio of 53.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect NiSource to earn $1.86 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 57.0%.

NiSource Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NI traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $37.64. 3,043,031 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,315,615. The company has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.94 and a 200 day moving average of $34.43. NiSource has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $38.83.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.00 million. NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

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.