Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 616,373 Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,809,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 616,373 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 5.13% of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners worth $834,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BIP. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,365,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,198,095,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141,038 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 2,562.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,615,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,782 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 3rd quarter worth $410,650,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,286,000. Finally, CCLA Investment Management boosted 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 valued at $119,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,964 shares in the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

BIP stock opened at $34.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.10. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 52-week low of $24.84 and a 52-week high of $36.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -204.12 and a beta of 1.06.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -952.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.40.

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.