Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Short Interest Up 11.4% in September

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 51,900 shares, a growth of 11.4% from the September 15th total of 46,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 14,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 12.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 77,017 shares during the last quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd grew its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 97.4% during the 2nd quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd now owns 45,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 22,200 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 88,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 23,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BBU traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.90. 10,543 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,083. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.11. Brookfield Business Partners has a 1 year low of $12.22 and a 1 year high of $24.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.45.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $11.95 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Business Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.92%.

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.