Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $45.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.13.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BIP opened at $35.59 on Monday. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a fifty-two week low of $25.72 and a fifty-two week high of $40.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.55 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 202.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,975,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,051,678,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933,287 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,104,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,181,000 after buying an additional 86,068 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 28,289,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $930,446,000 after buying an additional 926,167 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,559,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $297,699,000 after buying an additional 589,915 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. grew its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 6.2% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,367,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,967,000 after buying an additional 431,557 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile

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.