NiSource (NI) Competitors

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

Is SRE or NI 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
Sempra	22.63%	8.06%	3.04%
NiSource	13.94%	7.87%	2.62%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in SRE or NI?

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

Does the media favor SRE or NI?

In the previous week, Sempra and Sempra both had 21 articles in the media. NiSource's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat Sempra's score of 0.94 indicating that NiSource is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sempra	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
NiSource	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, SRE or NI?

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
Sempra	$13.19B	3.73	$3.08B	$4.42	17.09
NiSource	$5.46B	3.39	$760.40M	$1.62	24.26

Is SRE or NI a better dividend stock?

Sempra pays an annual dividend of $2.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra pays out 58.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NiSource pays out 69.1% 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. Sempra has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years and NiSource has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Sempra is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SRE or NI?

Sempra received 57 more outperform votes than NiSource when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.29% of users gave Sempra an outperform vote while only 55.20% of users gave NiSource an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Sempra	Outperform Votes 492 60.29%	Underperform Votes 324 39.71%
NiSource	Outperform Votes 435 55.20%	Underperform Votes 353 44.80%

Do analysts prefer SRE or NI?

Sempra presently has a consensus price target of $80.54, suggesting a potential upside of 6.65%. NiSource has a consensus price target of $41.11, suggesting a potential upside of 4.61%. Given Sempra's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Sempra is more favorable than NiSource.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sempra	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
NiSource	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk & volatility, SRE or NI?

Sempra has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NiSource has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sempra beats NiSource on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.