Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Stake Lessened by Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA reduced its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP - Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,725 shares during the period. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA's holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $2,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BIP. Creative Planning boosted its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 9.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 67,056 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 6,024 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 5,108 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at about $596,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the third quarter worth about $894,000. Finally, M. Kraus & Co purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the third quarter valued at about $223,000. 57.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BIP traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.25. The company had a trading volume of 436,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,292. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $24.84 and a fifty-two week high of $36.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.00. The stock has a market cap of $15.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 831.46 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. This is a positive change from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's dividend payout ratio is presently 4,051.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BIP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Securities boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.80.

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.