Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN have been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.80.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upped 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of BIP traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $33.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 461,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,484. The company's 50-day moving average is $32.55 and its 200-day moving average is $33.01. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 52-week low of $24.84 and a 52-week high of $36.50. The firm has a market capitalization 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts forecast that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners 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 paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company's stock.

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.