Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Acquires 1,141 Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 199.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $54,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BIP. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 12,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,681,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,259,000 after buying an additional 1,112,217 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 5,858,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,385,000 after buying an additional 233,330 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $5,330,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BIP shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. National Bank Financial cut shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.60.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:BIP traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.05. 369,981 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 513,935. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.65. The firm has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 193.21 and a beta of 0.95. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a one year low of $21.03 and a one year high of $37.32.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.99). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 0.79%. The company had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.99%. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,157.14%.

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.