Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Price Target Raised to $32.00

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.80.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BBU opened at $21.73 on Tuesday. Brookfield Business Partners has a 12 month low of $16.85 and a 12 month high of $26.75. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.50. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.32.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The business services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.063 dividend. This is a positive change from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 773,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 92,413 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 26,947 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Brookfield Business Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $1,731,000. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 1,518,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,528,000 after purchasing an additional 188,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 12,276.3% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 260,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 258,662 shares during the last quarter. 85.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brookfield Business Partners

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.