Inspire Investing LLC Acquires New Position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 25,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $894,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.9% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,365,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,198,095,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141,038 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $636,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540,223 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,147,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,680,000 after purchasing an additional 257,587 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 35.0% in the second quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 4,341,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,964 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 29.6% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,202,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,326,000 after buying an additional 960,120 shares in the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BIP has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

NYSE BIP opened at $34.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $21.03 and a fifty-two week high of $35.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.52 and a 200-day moving average of $30.23. The stock has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.00 and a beta of 1.06.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 0.51%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 522.58%.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners 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.