PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,206 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $2,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:BIP opened at $28.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a PE ratio of 700.48 and a beta of 1.10. 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 L.P. has a 52-week low of $24.84 and a 52-week high of $36.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.04.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 1.64%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

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

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.