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NiSource (NI) Rewards Shareholders With 5% Dividend Hike

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NiSource Inc. (NI - Free Report) announced that its board of directors approved an increase in its annual dividend by 5% to 88 cents per share from the 2020 figure of 84 cents, thus bringing the quarterly dividend to 22 cents. The amount is payable Feb 19, 2021 to the company’s stockholders of record on Feb 9, 2021.

The hike is in line with the company’s 60-70% payout target ratio. Moreover, its investments will drive earnings per share, seeing a 7-9% CAGR during the 2021-2024 time frame, which will support its long-term target.

The new dividend yield of the utility is 3.97% compared with the industry’s yield of 3.25%.

Can This Dividend be Sustained?

The utility has been paying dividends since 1972 and has been raising the same since 2011. Prior to this, in 2020, management hiked its annualized dividend to 84 cents per share from 80 cents in 2019. These stable hikes in dividend reflect the company’s strong operating performance.

Also, NiSource is making efforts to grow organically, which is boosting its performance. The utility continues to invest substantially in its assets for providing reliable services to its customers. Over the 2021-2024 time period, the company is going to invest in the range of $9.9-$10.5 billion. These investments will likely witness a 10-12% CAGR for the rate base through 2024. We believe that the ongoing capital expenses will solidify the company’s infrastructure, leading to continuous dividend hikes.

Other Utilities Hiking Dividend

Apart from NiSource, other utility companies like MDU Resources (MDU - Free Report) , Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (CPK - Free Report) and Essential Utilities Inc (WTRG - Free Report) are rewarding their shareholders with higher dividends despite the ongoing pandemic.

MDU Resources’ new annualized dividend is 85 cents per share while Chesapeake Utilities upped its quarterly dividend by 8.6% to 44 cents. Also, Essential Utilities raised its quarterly dividend by 7% to 25.07 cents per share.

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past six months, shares of the company have lost 9.5% against the industry’s 2.8% growth.

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