NiSource (NI) Competitors

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

Is NI or SRE more profitable?

Sempra has a net margin of 22.63% compared to NiSource's net margin of 14.63%. NiSource's return on equity of 8.27% beat Sempra's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NiSource	14.63%	8.27%	2.70%
Sempra	22.63%	8.06%	3.04%

Does the media favor NI or SRE?

In the previous week, Sempra had 3 more articles in the media than NiSource. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Sempra and 12 mentions for NiSource. NiSource's average media sentiment score of 1.37 beat Sempra's score of 0.82 indicating that NiSource is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NiSource	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Sempra	10 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings and 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	$5.51B	3.23	$714.30M	$1.65	23.11
Sempra	$16.72B	3.23	$3.08B	$4.54	18.77

Which has more risk and volatility, NI or SRE?

NiSource has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sempra has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NI or SRE?

Sempra received 55 more outperform votes than NiSource when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.50% of users gave Sempra an outperform vote while only 54.86% of users gave NiSource an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NiSource	Outperform Votes 429 54.86%	Underperform Votes 353 45.14%
Sempra	Outperform Votes 484 60.50%	Underperform Votes 316 39.50%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership 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. 0.1% 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 endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is NI or SRE a better dividend stock?

NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. NiSource pays out 64.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sempra pays out 54.6% 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 increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Sempra has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Sempra is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer NI or SRE?

NiSource presently has a consensus price target of $37.50, suggesting a potential downside of 1.66%. Sempra has a consensus price target of $91.60, suggesting a potential upside of 7.47%. 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)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Sempra	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

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