Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 47,300 shares, a decline of 8.9% from the September 30th total of 51,900 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 14,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $31.40.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BBU traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.43. 4,149 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,044. Brookfield Business Partners has a twelve month low of $13.00 and a twelve month high of $24.96. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.27.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Brookfield Business Partners will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $12,910,000 after acquiring an additional 77,017 shares in the last quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. lifted its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 58.3% in the first quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. now owns 156,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 57,553 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 29.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 117,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 26,947 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 3.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd lifted 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 buying an additional 22,200 shares in the last quarter. 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.