Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Short Interest Update

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,500 shares, a decrease of 5.9% from the March 31st total of 10,100 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 15,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.5% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,779,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $133,455,000 after purchasing an additional 128,970 shares during the last quarter. Partners Value Investments L.P. increased its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Partners Value Investments L.P. now owns 2,941,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $60,527,000 after purchasing an additional 19,061 shares during the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co increased its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 3.9% in the third quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 304,114 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,427,000 after purchasing an additional 11,304 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 4.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 166,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,525,000 after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 160,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 6,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BBU opened at $18.71 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Brookfield Business Partners has a 12-month low of $12.22 and a 12-month high of $23.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.20.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The business services provider reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $5.67. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $13.41 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Brookfield Business Partners will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. National Bankshares upped their price target on Brookfield Business Partners from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet lowered Brookfield Business Partners from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $26.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Desjardins boosted their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.67.

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.