Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Receives $31.40 Average PT from Brokerages

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday.

Brookfield Business Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBU opened at $22.10 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.10. Brookfield Business Partners has a twelve month low of $16.85 and a twelve month high of $26.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.50.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The business services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.39. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 30.68% and a net margin of 11.77%. The firm had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.063 per share. This is a positive change from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBU. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 773,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,145,000 after buying an additional 92,413 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 767,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,036,000 after purchasing an additional 22,886 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 117,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 26,947 shares during the period. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 14.2% during the third quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 1,518,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,528,000 after purchasing an additional 188,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd grew its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 97.4% in the second quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd now owns 45,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 22,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Business Partners Company Profile

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. is a private equity firm specializing in acquisition. The firm typically invests in business services, infrastructure services, construction, energy, and industrials sector. It prefers to take majority stake in companies. The firm seeks returns of at least 15% on its investments.