Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 6,751 Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Cannell & Spears LLC reduced its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 139,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,751 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $4,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIP. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,675,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $848,018,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,195 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,003,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,273,000 after buying an additional 790,078 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,033,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,745,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,477,000 after buying an additional 598,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. grew its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 129.5% during the fourth quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 680,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,632,000 after acquiring an additional 384,000 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BIP opened at $29.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.30 and its 200 day moving average is $32.87. The company has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a PE ratio of 745.21 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 1 year low of $24.84 and a 1 year high of $36.50.

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, 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.77%. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,300.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BIP. StockNews.com raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

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.