Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys New Position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 166,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 710,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,597,000 after acquiring an additional 23,374 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 37,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 250.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,192,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,324,000. 57.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on BIP shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:BIP opened at $28.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 700.48 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.05. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a twelve month low of $24.84 and a twelve month high of $36.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 1.17%. As a group, research analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is 4,300.00%.

About Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 2,900 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 8.1 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 0.6 million long-term contracted sub-metering services.