Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $36.49 and last traded at $36.1580, with a volume of 110941 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BIP. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $37.00 price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $40.00 target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.88.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.89. The firm has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.00 and a beta of 1.09.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.42). The firm had revenue of $5.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 2.74%. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is currently 256.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 4,860 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 9.7% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 174,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,201,000 after acquiring an additional 15,482 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 19,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 1st quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,289,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,219,000 after purchasing an additional 97,735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

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.