Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 108,052 Shares of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU - Free Report) by 92.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,137 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 108,052 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Brookfield Business Partners were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 7.4% in the third quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 31,501 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $1,731,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 97,584 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 16,684 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 12,276.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 260,769 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 258,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 641,835 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,047,000 after acquiring an additional 82,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.04% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BBU. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $32.33.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BBU traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.33. The company had a trading volume of 23,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,086. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.57 and a beta of 1.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Brookfield Business Partners L.P. has a 12 month low of $16.85 and a 12 month high of $26.75.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $1.33. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 5.09% and a net margin of 2.20%. As a group, research analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Brookfield Business Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -51.02%.

Brookfield Business Partners 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.