693,090 Shares in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP - Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 693,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $22,033,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIP. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company's stock.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

Shares of BIP stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $28.99. 69,412 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 440,606. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 52 week low of $25.72 and a 52 week high of $36.50. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $29.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 725.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 1.64%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.93%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4,300.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. TD Securities upped their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $42.50.

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.