Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $22.03 Million Investment in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 693,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,033,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BIP. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,675,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $848,018,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,195 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 24.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,003,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,273,000 after purchasing an additional 790,078 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,550,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,362,000 after purchasing an additional 130,371 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 829,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,337,000 after purchasing an additional 39,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 710,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,597,000 after purchasing an additional 23,374 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

Shares of BIP stock opened at $28.01 on Friday. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 12 month low of $24.84 and a 12 month high of $36.50. The stock has a market cap of $13.00 billion, a PE ratio of 700.48 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.04.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.58. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 1.17%. On average, equities analysts expect that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is currently 4,300.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BIP shares. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

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.