Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $40.63 and last traded at $39.5250, with a volume of 532 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.13.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $17.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.21 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.55 and its 200-day moving average is $34.60.

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

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is currently 202.22%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 225.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the third quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 544.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.