Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,466 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $1,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8,107.7% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Power Corp of Canada purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the first quarter worth approximately $73,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the first quarter worth approximately $81,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

BIP stock opened at $27.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 194.64 and a beta of 0.95. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a twelve month low of $21.03 and a twelve month high of $37.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.99). The firm had revenue of $4.97 billion during the quarter. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 0.79%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.32 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,157.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BIP. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. National Bankshares lowered shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.11.

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.