Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Shares Down 3.3% – Time to Sell?

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)’s stock price dropped 3.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $23.42 and last traded at $23.42. Approximately 2,017 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 9,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.23.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Up 0.9 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.02 and a 200 day moving average of $21.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The business services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion during 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.063 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This is a positive change from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Business Partners

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 773,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 92,413 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 767,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,036,000 after purchasing an additional 22,886 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 1,518,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,528,000 after buying an additional 188,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. 85.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.