Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP - Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,675,618 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,866,195 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 5.75% of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners worth $848,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 790,078 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,550,270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $89,362,000 after buying an additional 130,371 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,225,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,933,000 after acquiring an additional 20,610 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $410,650,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,286,000. 57.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BIP traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $33.44. 416,172 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 399,072. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 836.21 and a beta of 1.08. The business's fifty day moving average is $32.32 and its 200-day moving average is $33.14. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a one year low of $24.84 and a one year high of $36.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP - Get Free Report) TSE: BIP.UN last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 1.64%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's payout ratio is currently 4,051.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BIP. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Securities lifted 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. Raymond James lifted their price objective on 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, StockNews.com upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.50.

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.