NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.28

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid 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 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27.

NiSource has raised 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 Trading Up 0.4 %

NiSource stock opened at $37.75 on Friday. NiSource has a 52 week low of $24.80 and a 52 week high of $38.83. The stock has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NI has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays increased their target price on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.