Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Shares Gap Up to $19.55

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $19.55, but opened at $20.02. Brookfield Business Partners shares last traded at $20.02, with a volume of 42 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Business Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.40.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Down 1.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.96.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released 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 net margin of 7.34% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The business had revenue of $11.95 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Brookfield Business Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $307,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Brookfield Business Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $618,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd raised its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 97.4% in the 2nd quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd now owns 45,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 22,200 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 44.1% during the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors 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.