Short Interest in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Decreases By 8.4%

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,310,000 shares, a decline of 8.4% from the March 31st total of 1,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 537,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BIP shares. National Bank Financial lowered Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares downgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.60.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BIP traded down $0.09 during trading on Monday, hitting $27.05. 369,981 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 513,935. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 193.21 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.82 and its 200 day moving average is $28.65. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $21.03 and a fifty-two week high of $37.32.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.99). The firm had revenue of $4.97 billion during the quarter. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 0.79% and a net margin of 1.34%. Equities research analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.99%. This is an increase from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,157.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BIP. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 197.1% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the period. Bromfield Sneider Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 57.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.