Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 15,307 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 7% from the previous session’s volume of 14,266 shares.The stock last traded at $25.04 and had previously closed at $25.68.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Down 3.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $24.01 and its 200 day moving average is $21.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The business services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter. Brookfield Business Partners had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 30.68%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.063 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. 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. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 3.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brookfield Corp ON boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 1.7% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 25,602,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $596,538,000 after acquiring an additional 428,511 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 12,276.3% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 260,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 258,662 shares in the last quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 1,518,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,528,000 after purchasing an additional 188,743 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 773,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 92,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 14.7% during the third quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 641,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,047,000 after buying an additional 82,372 shares in the last quarter. 85.04% of the stock is 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.