Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) Trading Down 9.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) traded down 9.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $31.02 and last traded at $30.5350. 67,617 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 112% from the average session volume of 31,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BBU shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Brookfield Business Partners in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Desjardins raised their target price on Brookfield Business Partners from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Scotiabank set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Business Partners and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Brookfield Business Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brookfield Business Partners presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.50.

Brookfield Business Partners Stock Down 9.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of -235.04 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.26.

Brookfield Business Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Brookfield Business Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -192.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 44,152,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,806,000 after purchasing an additional 18,549,503 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 1.6% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,119,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,513,000 after buying an additional 17,508 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 58.2% in the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 342,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,030,000 after buying an additional 126,189 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Brookfield Business Partners by 796.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 322,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,530,000 after buying an additional 286,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new stake in Brookfield Business Partners during the first quarter worth about $3,997,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Business Partners Company Profile

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.