Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 20,611 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the previous session’s volume of 16,512 shares.The stock last traded at $21.85 and had previously closed at $21.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.50.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The business services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.39. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 30.68% and a net margin of 11.77%. The business had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.063 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 3.09%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Business Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BBU. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Brookfield Business Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $1,731,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 29.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 117,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 26,947 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 12,276.3% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 260,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,076,000 after buying an additional 258,662 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 97,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 16,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 25,602,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $596,538,000 after acquiring an additional 428,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

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.