Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 117,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,947 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Brookfield Business Partners were worth $2,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Brookfield Business Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 7.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 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 worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 7,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Brookfield Business Partners during the second quarter worth about $307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Up 2.3 %

BBU stock opened at $24.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.90. Brookfield Business Partners L.P. has a 12 month low of $16.85 and a 12 month high of $26.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.50.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The business services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.063 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. This is a positive change from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 3.09%.

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.