Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Short Interest Up 7.4% in October

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 50,800 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the October 15th total of 47,300 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 14,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a report on Monday, August 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 12,276.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 260,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,076,000 after buying an additional 258,662 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 97,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 16,684 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 1.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 428,511 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 773,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,145,000 after buying an additional 92,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 8.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 834,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,193,000 after buying an additional 66,786 shares during the period. 85.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Down 0.2 %

Brookfield Business Partners stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.36. 2,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,073. Brookfield Business Partners has a 1 year low of $15.00 and a 1 year high of $25.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.45. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $22.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.66.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released its 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 net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 30.68%. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Brookfield Business Partners will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.063 per share. This is a positive change from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is presently 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.