Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BBU shares. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce started coverage on Brookfield Business Partners in a research report on Friday, February 27th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Performance

Shares of BBU stock opened at $31.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -121.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.95. Brookfield Business Partners has a fifty-two week low of $18.63 and a fifty-two week high of $37.75.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 2.67% and a net margin of 1.41%.The company had revenue of $7 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Brookfield Business Partners will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 796.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 322,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,530,000 after purchasing an additional 286,872 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Brookfield Business Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,373,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 74.4% in the third quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 696,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,849,000 after purchasing an additional 297,180 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Brookfield Business Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,392,000. Finally, Credit Industriel ET Commercial acquired a new position in Brookfield Business Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,905,000. 85.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.