HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 536 Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 536 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $4,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,675,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $848,018,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,195 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 24.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,003,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,273,000 after buying an additional 790,078 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,550,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,362,000 after buying an additional 130,371 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 829,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,337,000 after buying an additional 39,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 710,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,597,000 after acquiring an additional 23,374 shares during the period. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on BIP. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price target on 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, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE BIP opened at $29.48 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.97. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a one year low of $24.84 and a one year high of $36.50. The company has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 737.13 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 1.17%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.83%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 4,300.00%.

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.