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

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,800 shares, a decrease of 37.7% from the January 31st total of 31,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 18,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of BBU stock opened at $23.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.04 and a 200 day moving average of $22.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.91 and a beta of 1.50. Brookfield Business Partners has a twelve month low of $16.85 and a twelve month high of $26.75.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $1.33. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 5.09% and a net margin of 2.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is currently -51.02%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Business Partners

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brookfield Corp ON boosted 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 worth $596,538,000 after acquiring an additional 428,511 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,718,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $180,759,000 after acquiring an additional 64,007 shares during the last quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 1,618,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,041,000 after acquiring an additional 99,763 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,020,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,506,000 after acquiring an additional 22,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 928,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,871,000 after acquiring an additional 94,052 shares during the last quarter. 85.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BBU shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research 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 currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.33.

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.