Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Given New $41.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) had its price target boosted by Scotiabank from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. Scotiabank currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 1.7 %

BIP opened at $33.16 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.07. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 1-year low of $24.84 and a 1-year high of $36.50. The stock has a market cap of $15.39 billion, a PE ratio of 829.18 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) (TSE:BIP.UN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.19%. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,051.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,675,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $848,018,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,195 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $410,650,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,286,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 1,616.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,079,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,826,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 101.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,587,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,783,000 after purchasing an additional 797,649 shares in the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.