Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,780,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the September 15th total of 1,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 367,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of BIP stock traded up $0.65 on Thursday, reaching $36.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 355,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 439,204. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.31. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 1 year low of $21.03 and a 1 year high of $36.49. The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.80). The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 0.51% and a net margin of 0.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Analysts forecast that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s payout ratio is currently 522.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Cibc World Mkts raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BIP. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the third quarter worth $26,000. Clear Point Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Bromfield Sneider Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the second quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

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.