Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ (BIP) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $40.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on BIP. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of 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 raised their target price 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, StockNews.com raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

BIP opened at $30.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.08. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 1-year low of $24.84 and a 1-year high of $36.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.36 and a 200-day moving average of $32.89. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 1.64%. Equities analysts expect that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost 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 5.69%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 4,300.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BIP. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 33,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 7,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 11,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

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.