Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Brookfield Infrastructure Partners hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $40.59, after rising about 1.3% on the day.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with eight Buy ratings and two Hold ratings; the consensus price target is $44.88.
• The company beat recent earnings expectations, reported a 4.5% dividend yield, and continues to see significant institutional ownership and some insider buying.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN's stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $40.59 and last traded at $40.5150, with a volume of 162699 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an "outperform" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.88.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Trading Up 1.3%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.11 and a 200-day moving average of $37.13. The company has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.98 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's dividend payout ratio is 275.76%.

Insider Activity at Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

In other news, CFO David Tyler Krant acquired 1,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $48.10 per share, for a total transaction of $55,315.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,415. This trade represents a 115.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 54.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 505,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,615,000 after purchasing an additional 178,534 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,395,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $83,261,000 after purchasing an additional 29,750 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 106.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 70,614 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,453,000 after buying an additional 36,382 shares in the last quarter. Deltroit Asset Management UK LLP purchased a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,236,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,559,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $297,699,000 after buying an additional 589,915 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.92% of the company's stock.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile

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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