Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Stake Lessened by HUB Investment Partners LLC

HUB Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,547 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $2,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 24.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,003,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,273,000 after acquiring an additional 790,078 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $22,033,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,745,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,477,000 after acquiring an additional 598,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 129.5% during the fourth quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 680,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,632,000 after acquiring an additional 384,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

BIP stock opened at $28.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 719.65 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.94. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $24.84 and a fifty-two week 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 1.17%. Sell-side analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.98%. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,300.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.