Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Shares Acquired by MRP Capital Investments LLC

MRP Capital Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,375 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BIP. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,809,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $834,282,000 after buying an additional 616,373 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 159.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 175,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,147,000 after buying an additional 107,821 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 87.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 11,217 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BIP opened at $28.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.94. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 52-week low of $24.84 and a 52-week high of $36.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 719.65 and a beta of 1.10.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4,300.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BIP. Scotiabank increased their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities increased their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $42.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners 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.