Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Short Interest Up 24.3% in March

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 66,186 shares, a growth of 24.3% from the February 26th total of 53,249 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 44,018 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BBU shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. National Bank Financial upped their target price on Brookfield Business Partners from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Brookfield Business Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BBU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 214.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,013,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,483,000 after buying an additional 690,915 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 74.4% during the 3rd quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 696,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,849,000 after buying an additional 297,180 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 59,309.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 215,063 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,596,000 after buying an additional 214,701 shares during the period. Credit Industriel ET Commercial bought a new stake in Brookfield Business Partners in the 3rd quarter worth $4,905,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Brookfield Business Partners in the 2nd quarter worth $3,373,000. Institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:BBU traded down $0.53 on Monday, reaching $31.60. 153,707 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 51,425. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -121.55 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84. Brookfield Business Partners has a 52 week low of $18.63 and a 52 week high of $37.75.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The business services provider reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($1.86). The company had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Brookfield Business Partners had a net margin of 1.41% and a return on equity of 2.67%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Brookfield Business Partners will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be given a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is presently -96.15%.

Brookfield Business Partners Company Profile

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.