Wall Street Zen Downgrades Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from hold to sell in a note issued Saturday, adding to mixed analyst sentiment around the stock.
• Despite that downgrade, the broader analyst view remains constructive: 8 analysts rate BIP a Buy, 2 rate it Hold, and MarketBeat shows a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $44.88.
• BIP most recently reported strong quarterly results, posting $0.90 EPS versus the $0.28 consensus and revenue of $6.30 billion, while the stock recently traded near its 52-week high at $40.96.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BIP. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. National Bank Financial upped their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.88.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

Shares of BIP stock opened at $40.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.06 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.24. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 52 week low of $29.63 and a 52 week high of $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Insider Activity at Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

In related news, CFO David Tyler Krant purchased 1,150 shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $48.10 per share, with a total value of $55,315.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 2,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,415. The trade was a 115.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIP. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,104,057 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,081,181,000 after purchasing an additional 86,068 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 7.4% in 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 period. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 6.2% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,367,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $241,967,000 after buying an additional 431,557 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,015,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $244,192,000 after buying an additional 259,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,688,284 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $232,351,000 after acquiring an additional 24,650 shares during the period. 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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