NiSource Inc. (NI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.28 on February 20th

NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,RTT News reports. Investors 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 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. 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% meaning 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 %

NYSE NI opened at $37.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.54. 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 has a 12-month low of $24.80 and a 12-month high of $38.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.52.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NI shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NiSource in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.