Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $29.14 and last traded at $29.14, with a volume of 111 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.85 and its 200 day moving average is $21.12.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released 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. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 30.68% and a net margin of 11.77%. The business had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.43 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.063 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is a positive change from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is currently 3.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBU. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 12,276.3% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 260,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 258,662 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 20.6% during 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 buying an additional 16,684 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON raised its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 25,602,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $596,538,000 after buying an additional 428,511 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased 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 acquiring an additional 66,786 shares in the last quarter. 85.04% of the stock is currently 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.