Head to Head Contrast: NiSource (NYSE:NI) versus Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP)

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) and NiSource (NYSE:NI) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Brookfield Renewable Partners and NiSource’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brookfield Renewable Partners	3.52%	0.66%	0.23%
NiSource	14.15%	8.09%	2.66%

Volatility and Risk

Brookfield Renewable Partners has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NiSource has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

63.2% of Brookfield Renewable Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of NiSource shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of NiSource 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Brookfield Renewable Partners and NiSource, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brookfield Renewable Partners	0	4	11	1	2.81
NiSource	0	2	8	1	2.91

Brookfield Renewable Partners currently has a consensus price target of $34.86, indicating a potential upside of 29.61%. NiSource has a consensus price target of $46.67, indicating a potential upside of 10.96%. Given Brookfield Renewable Partners’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Brookfield Renewable Partners is more favorable than NiSource.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Brookfield Renewable Partners and NiSource”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brookfield Renewable Partners	$5.88 billion	1.40	-$181.00 million	($0.86)	-31.27
NiSource	$6.33 billion	3.17	$760.40 million	$1.89	22.25

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

Dividends

Brookfield Renewable Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Brookfield Renewable Partners pays out -173.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NiSource pays out 59.3% 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. Brookfield Renewable Partners has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and NiSource has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Brookfield Renewable Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

NiSource beats Brookfield Renewable Partners on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brookfield Renewable Partners

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. owns a portfolio of renewable power generating facilities primarily in North America, Colombia, and Brazil. The company generates electricity through hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed generation, and pumped storage, as well as renewable natural gas, carbon capture and storage, recycling, cogeneration biomass, nuclear services, and power transformation. Brookfield Renewable Partners Limited operates as the general partner of Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. The company was formerly known as Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P. and changed its name to Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. in May 2016. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. was founded in 1999 and is based in Toronto, Canada. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P operates as a subsidiary of Brookfield Corporation.

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. It also generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 0.5 million customers in various counties in the northern part of Indiana, as well as engages in wholesale electric and transmission transactions. It owns and operates coal-fired electric generating stations in Wheatfield and Michigan City; combined cycle gas turbine in West Terre Haute; natural gas generating units in Wheatfield; hydro generating plants in Carroll County and White County; wind generating units in White County, Indiana; and solar generating units in Jasper County and White County. The company was formerly known as NIPSCO Industries, Inc. and changed its name to NiSource Inc. in April 1999. NiSource Inc. was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana.