Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,700 shares, a growth of 23.1% from the May 31st total of 22,500 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Business Partners

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 160,426 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 6,290 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 98,001 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,957,000 after buying an additional 11,718 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 81,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 13,155 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 50,102 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 15,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Partners Value Investments L.P. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Partners Value Investments L.P. now owns 2,941,062 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $60,527,000 after acquiring an additional 19,061 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.04% of the company's stock.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:BBU traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $18.76. The company had a trading volume of 11,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,777. Brookfield Business Partners has a twelve month low of $12.22 and a twelve month high of $23.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $18.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.30.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The business services provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.63). Brookfield Business Partners had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 21.64%. The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Brookfield Business Partners's payout ratio is 3.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BBU. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. TheStreet lowered shares of Brookfield Business Partners from a "c" rating to a "d+" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Brookfield Business Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $30.33.

Brookfield Business Partners Company Profile

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.

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