Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 166,898 Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 166,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,306,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the third quarter worth about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of BIP opened at $31.00 on Tuesday. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 12 month low of $24.84 and a 12 month high of $36.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.28. The company has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 775.19 and a beta of 1.08.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 1.17%. On average, research analysts forecast that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is 4,300.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on BIP shares. StockNews.com raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

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.