Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 66,186 shares, an increase of 24.3% from the February 26th total of 53,249 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 44,018 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Performance

Shares of BBU stock remained flat at $31.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. Brookfield Business Partners has a 1 year low of $18.63 and a 1 year high of $37.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -121.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.84.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The business services provider reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($1.86). The firm had revenue of $7 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 2.67% and a net margin of 1.41%. As a group, research analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 23rd. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is presently -96.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a report on Monday, February 2nd. National Bank Financial lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Business Partners presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Business Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 1,338,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,786,000 after acquiring an additional 67,295 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,119,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,513,000 after purchasing an additional 17,508 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 214.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,013,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,483,000 after purchasing an additional 690,915 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 74.4% during the third quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 696,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,849,000 after purchasing an additional 297,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 643,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,787,000 after purchasing an additional 90,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

About Brookfield Business Partners

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE: BBU) is a publicly traded partnership sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management. The company focuses on acquiring and operating high-quality businesses across a range of industrial and service-oriented sectors. Through a partnership structure, Brookfield Business Partners seeks to provide investors with returns generated from stable, cash-flowing enterprises that benefit from Brookfield Asset Management’s global scale and operational expertise.

The company’s investment strategy centers on businesses within the industrial services, manufacturing, transportation, and business services segments.