Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Sees Large Volume Increase - Time to Buy?

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 25,728 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 81% from the previous session's volume of 14,192 shares.The stock last traded at $21.92 and had previously closed at $21.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.60.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Down 2.0 %

The business's 50-day moving average price is $23.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of -43.89 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $1.33. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 5.00% and a net margin of 2.20%. As a group, analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Brookfield Business Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -51.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBU. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,726 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 31,501 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 40,281 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 7,939 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.