Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.40.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Up 0.2 %

BBU stock opened at $20.02 on Thursday. Brookfield Business Partners has a 1-year low of $12.22 and a 1-year high of $23.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.95). The company had revenue of $11.95 billion for the quarter. Brookfield Business Partners had a net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 21.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is 3.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of 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. increased its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 2.0% during the second 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 during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 160,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,328,000 after buying an additional 6,290 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 98,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,957,000 after buying an additional 11,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 50,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 15,344 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

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.