Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has reaffirmed a "buy" rating for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) with a price objective of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.01% from its current price.
• The stock received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.00, while some analysts set targets as high as $40.00 and as low as $31.00.
• Brookfield Infrastructure Partners reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $0.81, slightly missing the consensus estimate, and a revenue of $5.43 billion, showcasing a year-over-year revenue growth of 5.7%.

Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 10.01% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BIP. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $40.00 price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $41.00.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 1.3%

BIP stock opened at $31.82 on Friday. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a twelve month low of $25.72 and a twelve month high of $36.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $14.75 billion, a PE ratio of 636.43 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.84 and a 200 day moving average of $31.21.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.01). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 1.15%. The company had revenue of $5.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 947.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 8,164 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 565.6% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 1st quarter worth $320,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,663,000 after buying an additional 13,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 374,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,900,000 after buying an additional 48,787 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.