Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) Short Interest Update

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,660,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the September 30th total of 1,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 337,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,809,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $834,282,000 after buying an additional 616,373 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,147,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,680,000 after acquiring an additional 257,587 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management grew its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 4,341,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 29.6% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,202,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,326,000 after purchasing an additional 960,120 shares in the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Price Performance

NYSE BIP traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.57. 75,686 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 432,150. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a PE ratio of -201.40 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 52-week low of $24.84 and a 52-week high of $36.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.78 and its 200-day moving average is $30.83.

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

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.