Short Interest in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Decreases By 6.6%

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,850,000 shares, a drop of 6.6% from the July 31st total of 1,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 412,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BIP opened at $31.17 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $14.46 billion, a PE ratio of 100.55 and a beta of 1.03. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 52 week low of $21.03 and a 52 week high of $33.23.

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

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 522.58%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 8.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,365,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,198,095,000 after buying an additional 3,141,038 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $636,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540,223 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 19,209,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,140 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,681,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,217 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,147,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,680,000 after purchasing an additional 257,587 shares in the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BIP. StockNews.com raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.56.

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.