Short Interest in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Grows By 88.8%

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 45,700 shares, a growth of 88.8% from the August 15th total of 24,200 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 16,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Performance

Brookfield Business Partners stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.10. 12,256 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,590. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.84. Brookfield Business Partners has a fifty-two week low of $12.22 and a fifty-two week high of $23.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.95). Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 7.34%. The firm had revenue of $11.95 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a report on Monday, August 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Business Partners has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. K2 Principal Fund L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners during the fourth quarter worth $2,033,000. Partners Value Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Partners Value Investments L.P. now owns 2,941,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,527,000 after purchasing an additional 19,061 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position 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 period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 59,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 20,891 shares during the period. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners in the fourth quarter worth $618,000. 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.