166,898 Shares in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Purchased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 166,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,675,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $848,018,000 after acquiring an additional 2,866,195 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 24.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,003,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,273,000 after purchasing an additional 790,078 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 130,371 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,286,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 829,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,337,000 after buying an additional 39,565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BIP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. TD Securities boosted their target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James lifted 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners stock opened at $31.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.39 billion, a PE ratio of 775.19 and a beta of 1.08. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a one year low of $24.84 and a one year high of $36.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $32.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.08.

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

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio 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.