Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Upgraded to “Hold” by StockNews.com

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BIP. Cibc World Mkts raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BIP stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.15. 497,645 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 464,056. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.50. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.71 and a beta of 1.03. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 12 month low of $21.03 and a 12 month high of $33.23.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.80). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 0.50% and a net margin of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,198,095,000 after buying an additional 3,141,038 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $636,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540,223 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 19,209,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,140 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,681,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,259,000 after buying an additional 1,112,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 257,587 shares during the period. 57.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.