Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.26%. 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 has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.0% annually over the last three years. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a payout ratio of 121.8% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to earn $3.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.62 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.6%.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of BIP stock traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 699,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,706. The firm's 50-day moving average is $32.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.00. The company has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 817.75 and a beta of 1.08. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 1-year low of $24.84 and a 1-year high of $36.50. 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 - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on BIP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $42.80.

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.