Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $26.07 and last traded at $25.71, with a volume of 15424 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Brookfield Business Partners Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last posted 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. 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.063 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $770,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised 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. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Brookfield Business Partners in the third quarter worth $45,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 7.4% in the third quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 31,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV raised its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 24.5% during the third quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 40,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 7,939 shares in the last quarter. 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.