NiSource (NI) Competitors

NiSource (NYSE:NI) and Sempra (NYSE:SRE) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, community ranking, profitability, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Which has more risk & volatility, NI or SRE?

NiSource has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sempra has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NI or SRE?

Sempra received 56 more outperform votes than NiSource when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.27% of users gave Sempra an outperform vote while only 55.32% of users gave NiSource an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NiSource	Outperform Votes 437 55.32%	Underperform Votes 353 44.68%
Sempra	Outperform Votes 493 60.27%	Underperform Votes 325 39.73%

Does the media refer more to NI or SRE?

In the previous week, Sempra had 4 more articles in the media than NiSource. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Sempra and 10 mentions for NiSource. Sempra's average media sentiment score of 1.37 beat NiSource's score of 1.33 indicating that Sempra is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NiSource	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Sempra	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in NI or SRE?

91.6% of NiSource shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of Sempra shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of NiSource shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Sempra shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend NI or SRE?

NiSource currently has a consensus price target of $41.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.14%. Sempra has a consensus price target of $80.75, suggesting a potential upside of 9.21%. Given Sempra's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sempra is more favorable than NiSource.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NiSource	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Sempra	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54

Is NI or SRE a better dividend stock?

NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra pays an annual dividend of $2.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. NiSource pays out 60.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sempra pays out 56.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. NiSource has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Sempra has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Sempra is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better earnings & valuation, NI or SRE?

Sempra has higher revenue and earnings than NiSource. Sempra is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NiSource, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NiSource	$5.93B	3.13	$760.40M	$1.85	21.34
Sempra	$13.35B	3.61	$3.08B	$4.55	16.25

Is NI or SRE more profitable?

Sempra has a net margin of 22.63% compared to NiSource's net margin of 13.94%. Sempra's return on equity of 8.06% beat NiSource's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NiSource	13.94%	7.87%	2.62%
Sempra	22.63%	8.06%	3.04%

Summary

Sempra beats NiSource on 17 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.