StockNews.com lowered shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP – Get Rating) (TSE:BIP.UN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. Credit Suisse Group upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $49.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, TD Securities assumed coverage on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, September 23rd. They set a buy rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $46.80.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:BIP opened at $33.54 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.09 and a 200-day moving average of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.61 and a beta of 0.79. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 52 week low of $32.09 and a 52 week high of $46.01.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 31st were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 30th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners's payout ratio is presently 208.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BIP. Northstar Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $217,000. StrongBox Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. StrongBox Wealth LLC now owns 41,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,742,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 8,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 233,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,471,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.37% of the company's stock.

About Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

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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 61,000 kilometers (km) of operational electricity transmission and distribution lines; 5,300 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 7.3 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 360,000 long-term contracted sub-metering services.

Further Reading

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP)
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