Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (NYSE:BIP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Nine brokerages rate Brookfield Infrastructure a "Moderate Buy" (7 buys, 2 holds) with a one-year average target of $43.71, and several firms have recently raised targets (e.g., Morgan Stanley to $45, TD Securities to $57).
• Strong quarterly beat: The company reported $0.90 EPS vs. $0.28 expected and revenue of $6.30B vs. $2.13B, materially topping estimates.
• Dividend vs. sustainability: Brookfield declared a quarterly dividend of $0.455 (annualized $1.82) for a ~5.0% yield, but its dividend payout ratio is very high at 202.22%, signaling potential payout risk.

Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.7143.

A number of brokerages have commented on BIP. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 16th.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 1.0%

BIP opened at $36.20 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $36.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.04. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a twelve month low of $29.63 and a twelve month high of $40.32. The firm has a market cap of $16.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.85 and a beta of 1.03.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.62. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 3.46% and a return on equity of 2.54%. The business had revenue of $6.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 202.22%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 225.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 975 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 544.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. NYSE: BIP is a publicly traded limited partnership that owns and operates a diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets across four core sectors: utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure. Through long-lived, regulated or contracted assets, Brookfield Infrastructure provides essential services such as electricity transmission and distribution, toll road and port operations, midstream energy logistics and fiber-based data networks.

The company's utilities division encompasses regulated electricity and gas distribution networks in North and South America, Europe and Australia, ensuring stable cash flows under current regulatory frameworks.

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