PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Raises Holdings in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) by 14.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,518,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 188,743 shares during the period. Brookfield Business Partners accounts for about 11.2% of PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. owned approximately 2.04% of Brookfield Business Partners worth $35,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 767,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,036,000 after buying an additional 22,886 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 681,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,910,000 after buying an additional 77,017 shares during the period. K2 Principal Fund L.P. increased its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 58.3% in the 1st quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. now owns 156,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after buying an additional 57,553 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 117,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,731,000 after buying an additional 26,947 shares during the period. Finally, AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd increased its position 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 worth $848,000 after buying an additional 22,200 shares during the period. 85.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Performance

BBU opened at $24.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Brookfield Business Partners L.P. has a 1 year low of $15.00 and a 1 year high of $25.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.70.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The business services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 30.68% and a net margin of 11.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.063 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Brookfield Business Partners’s payout ratio is currently 3.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.