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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BIP. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,652,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $675,785,000 after buying an additional 1,701,587 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the first quarter worth approximately $312,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.0% during the first quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 9,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 161,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,694,000 after purchasing an additional 5,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

BIP stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.05. The company had a trading volume of 369,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 513,935. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.65. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 12-month low of $21.03 and a 12-month high of $37.32. The company has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 193.21 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last issued its 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This is a boost from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is currently 1,157.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. National Bankshares lowered Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Raymond James raised 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 report on Friday, February 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.60.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile

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.