Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Reduces Stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI cut its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BIP. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 413.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 4,278,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445,832 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,337,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $480,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,714,740 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,876,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $525,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,482 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 15,750,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,100,000 after acquiring an additional 938,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,344,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $420,203,000 after purchasing an additional 685,194 shares in the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BIP opened at $29.53 on Wednesday. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 52 week low of $21.03 and a 52 week high of $37.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.31 and its 200-day moving average is $28.92. The firm has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a PE ratio of 210.94 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.99). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 0.79% and a net margin of 1.34%. The business had revenue of $4.97 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.49%. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is presently 1,157.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BIP. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Securities reduced their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.11.

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.