Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $35.73 and last traded at $35.67, with a volume of 224276 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BIP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 4.7 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a PE ratio of 115.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.80). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 0.51% and a net margin of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 522.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.9% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,365,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,198,095,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141,038 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,652,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $675,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,587 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 2,562.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,615,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,782 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management increased its holdings in 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 worth $119,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,202,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,326,000 after purchasing an additional 960,120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

About Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

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.