Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN has earned an average rating of "Buy" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.67.

BIP has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.80. The company had a trading volume of 96,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,170. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 1-year low of $25.72 and a 1-year high of $36.50. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $30.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.54. The stock has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a PE ratio of 845.21 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.01. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 1.17%. The firm had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -8,600.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 4,686,497 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $139,611,000 after buying an additional 158,881 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.5% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 24,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,931 shares during the period. SCS Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the first quarter valued at $24,786,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,802,475 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,696,000 after acquiring an additional 195,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the first quarter valued at $97,000. 57.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.