BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Boosts Holdings in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 773,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 92,413 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Brookfield Business Partners were worth $18,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 22,886 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 117,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 26,947 shares during the period. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 188,743 shares during the period. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd grew 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 purchasing an additional 22,200 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Performance

Shares of BBU opened at $26.44 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.07. Brookfield Business Partners L.P. has a 52-week low of $15.79 and a 52-week high of $26.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) last announced its earnings results 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. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 30.68% and a net margin of 11.77%. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.063 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Brookfield Business Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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