Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Receives $31.40 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.00.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:BBU opened at $22.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Brookfield Business Partners has a one year low of $16.85 and a one year high of $26.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.10.

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

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.063 dividend. This is a positive change from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is presently 3.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBU. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 2.0% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 90,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,808 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners in the third quarter worth $45,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 7.4% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV lifted its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 24.5% in the third quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 40,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 7,939 shares during the period. 85.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.