Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.50.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities raised their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE BIP opened at $30.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.89. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a one year low of $24.84 and a one year high of $36.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 755.79 and a beta of 1.10.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS 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, equities analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is presently 4,300.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,675,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $848,018,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,195 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 8,784,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $278,858,000 after acquiring an additional 650,892 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 6,432,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,492,000 after acquiring an additional 171,748 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,003,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,273,000 after purchasing an additional 790,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,550,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,362,000 after purchasing an additional 130,371 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile

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.