Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $24.20 and last traded at $24.20, with a volume of 472 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Five equities 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.40.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

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

Brookfield Business Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. K2 Principal Fund L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,033,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in 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 valued at $12,910,000 after buying an additional 77,017 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new stake in Brookfield Business Partners during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,405,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 23,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in 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.