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

Shares of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BBU. National Bank Financial boosted their target price on Brookfield Business Partners from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Desjardins increased their price target on Brookfield Business Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Brookfield Business Partners from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research lowered Brookfield Business Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a report on Monday, February 2nd.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE:BBU opened at $32.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.37 and a beta of 1.30. Brookfield Business Partners has a 52 week low of $18.63 and a 52 week high of $37.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.22 and a 200 day moving average of $33.31.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The business services provider reported ($0.48) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brookfield Business Partners will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 30,100.0% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $71,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

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.