Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 568,564 Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP $BIP

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group sold 568,564 shares of Brookfield Infrastructure in Q4, trimming its stake by 1.8% to 31,407,038 shares (about 6.81%) worth roughly $1.091 billion.
• Strong quarter: Brookfield reported $0.90 EPS versus $0.28 expected and $6.30 billion in revenue versus $2.13 billion expected, and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $43.71 target.
• Dividend announced: Brookfield declared a quarterly payout of $0.455 per share (annualized $1.82) for a 5.1% yield, though the dividend payout ratio is very high at 275.76%, raising sustainability questions.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (NYSE:BIP - Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,407,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 568,564 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 6.81% of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners worth $1,091,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIP. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 195,276 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 24,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,931 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the second quarter worth approximately $2,595,000. Glenview Trust co bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the second quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 724,975 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,287,000 after purchasing an additional 58,511 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BIP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.71.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

NYSE:BIP opened at $35.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.06 and a beta of 1.03. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP has a one year low of $29.63 and a one year high of $40.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 3.46% and a return on equity of 2.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's dividend payout ratio is presently 275.76%.

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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