Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Shares Sold by Wulff Hansen & CO.

Wulff Hansen & CO. trimmed its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners makes up approximately 1.7% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners were worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BIP. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,675,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $848,018,000 after acquiring an additional 2,866,195 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,003,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,273,000 after acquiring an additional 790,078 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,033,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,745,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,477,000 after acquiring an additional 598,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. grew its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 129.5% during the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 680,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,632,000 after buying an additional 384,000 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BIP opened at $28.68 on Wednesday. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 1 year low of $24.84 and a 1 year high of $36.50. The stock has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 717.18 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.65 and a 200-day moving average of $33.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 1.17% and a net margin of 1.64%. Equities analysts predict 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 paid a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.00%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,300.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $42.50.

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.