Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Hits New 52-Week High at $23.78

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $23.78 and last traded at $23.46, with a volume of 2814 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Business Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.40.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.45.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.95). The company had revenue of $11.95 billion for the quarter. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 7.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is presently 3.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. K2 Principal Fund L.P. purchased a new position in Brookfield Business Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,033,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 12.7% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 681,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,910,000 after purchasing an additional 77,017 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $1,405,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 35.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 88,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 23,258 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 3.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 767,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,036,000 after acquiring an additional 22,886 shares during the period. 85.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.