Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Takes Position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BIP. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 22.8% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 1,939 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the first quarter worth about $1,913,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the first quarter worth about $728,000. Epiq Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.0% in the first quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 64,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,027,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 15.0% in the first quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 31,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BIP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.29.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

Shares of BIP stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $35.40. The company had a trading volume of 37,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,957. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. has a 12 month low of $21.03 and a 12 month high of $36.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.13 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.28 and its 200 day moving average is $30.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 0.51%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.58%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 522.58%.

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.