Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 37.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 80,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,199 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $2,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the third quarter worth $101,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 24.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,003,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,273,000 after purchasing an additional 790,078 shares during the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC grew its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 34,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 11,069 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,550,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,362,000 after buying an additional 130,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BIP. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.20.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BIP stock opened at $32.00 on Thursday. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 1-year low of $24.84 and a 1-year high of $36.50. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.21 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.23.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently -426.32%.

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.