HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 59,503 Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP - Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 154,181 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 59,503 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $5,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BIP. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 2.7% during the third 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. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,147,654 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $168,680,000 after acquiring an additional 257,587 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 4,341,905 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $119,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,964 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,202,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $115,326,000 after purchasing an additional 960,120 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 26.1% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,204,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $88,027,000 after purchasing an additional 663,726 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

NYSE:BIP traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.85. The stock had a trading volume of 485,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,496. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -89.08 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a one year low of $24.84 and a one year high of $36.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's payout ratio is currently -426.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on BIP. StockNews.com raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.20.

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.