Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BBU. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce initiated coverage on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a report on Friday, February 27th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Business Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Global Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 151.1% during the 4th quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 189,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,664,000 after acquiring an additional 113,929 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 122,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 3,666 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 59,309.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 215,063 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,596,000 after acquiring an additional 214,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBU opened at $31.46 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.93. Brookfield Business Partners has a 12-month low of $20.62 and a 12-month high of $37.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of -121.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The business services provider reported ($0.48) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($1.86). Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 2.67% and a net margin of 1.41%.The business had revenue of $7 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Brookfield Business Partners will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is -96.15%.

About Brookfield Business Partners

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE: BBU) is a publicly traded partnership sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management. The company focuses on acquiring and operating high-quality businesses across a range of industrial and service-oriented sectors. Through a partnership structure, Brookfield Business Partners seeks to provide investors with returns generated from stable, cash-flowing enterprises that benefit from Brookfield Asset Management’s global scale and operational expertise.

The company’s investment strategy centers on businesses within the industrial services, manufacturing, transportation, and business services segments.