Morgan Stanley Upgrades Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) to “Overweight”

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $45.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 23.58% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a report on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised their target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.13.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BIP opened at $36.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.46 and a beta of 1.10. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a 12-month low of $25.72 and a 12-month high of $40.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) (TSE:BIP.UN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.42). Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 3.22%. The company had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 3.3% in the third quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. now owns 10,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 1.6% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 25,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 0.6% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 67,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE: BIP) is a publicly traded limited partnership that owns and operates a diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets across four core sectors: utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure. Through long-lived, regulated or contracted assets, Brookfield Infrastructure provides essential services such as electricity transmission and distribution, toll road and port operations, midstream energy logistics and fiber-based data networks.

The company’s utilities division encompasses regulated electricity and gas distribution networks in North and South America, Europe and Australia, ensuring stable cash flows under current regulatory frameworks.