Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $45.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. National Bank Financial increased their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.13.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of BIP opened at $35.54 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.49 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.19. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a twelve month low of $25.72 and a twelve month high of $40.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.42). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 3.22%. The business had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 202.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BIP. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the second quarter valued at about $46,203,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 72.9% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,365,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,962,000 after purchasing an additional 997,680 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 28,289,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $930,446,000 after purchasing an additional 926,167 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 54.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 505,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,615,000 after purchasing an additional 178,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Industriel ET Commercial lifted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 582.7% in the 3rd quarter. Credit Industriel ET Commercial now owns 174,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,754,000 after buying an additional 149,315 shares in the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE: BIP) is a publicly traded limited partnership that owns and operates a diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets across four core sectors: utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure. Through long-lived, regulated or contracted assets, Brookfield Infrastructure provides essential services such as electricity transmission and distribution, toll road and port operations, midstream energy logistics and fiber-based data networks.

The company’s utilities division encompasses regulated electricity and gas distribution networks in North and South America, Europe and Australia, ensuring stable cash flows under current regulatory frameworks.