Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP)

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $42.20.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners stock opened at $32.78 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.79 and its 200 day moving average is $32.95. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 1 year low of $24.84 and a 1 year high of $36.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 0.02%. Sell-side analysts expect that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is -426.32%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BIP. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.