HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 153,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 536 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $4,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BIP. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 57.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BIP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities increased their target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of BIP opened at $29.48 on Thursday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.97. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $24.84 and a fifty-two week high of $36.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a PE ratio of 737.13 and a beta of 1.10.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 1.64%. Equities analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.83%. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,300.00%.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile

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.