Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.40.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Down 2.3 %

BBU traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,593. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.04 and its 200-day moving average is $22.00. Brookfield Business Partners has a 1 year low of $16.85 and a 1 year high of $26.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.063 per share. This is a boost 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 3.09%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Business Partners

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at about $307,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 90,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 22,886 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 681,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,910,000 after acquiring an additional 77,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd raised its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 97.4% during the second quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd now owns 45,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 22,200 shares during the period. 85.04% of the stock is currently 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.