Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) Short Interest Update

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,780,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the January 31st total of 9,010,000 shares. Currently, 8.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Asset Management

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAM. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,646,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,064,983,000 after purchasing an additional 447,642 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Brookfield Asset Management by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,901,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $916,676,000 after buying an additional 263,660 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Brookfield Asset Management by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,664,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359,126 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,116,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $873,354,000 after buying an additional 116,008 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 15,369,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $833,581,000 after buying an additional 574,978 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.41% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Asset Management Trading Down 5.8 %

Shares of Brookfield Asset Management stock traded down $2.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.40. 1,456,878 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,256,139. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.46. Brookfield Asset Management has a 52-week low of $37.29 and a 52-week high of $62.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $56.61 and a 200-day moving average of $52.65.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.01. Brookfield Asset Management had a net margin of 54.47% and a return on equity of 81.16%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. This is a positive change from Brookfield Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Brookfield Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 132.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC raised Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. TD Securities lifted their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Brookfield Asset Management from $63.00 to $62.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.71.

About Brookfield Asset Management

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is a real estate investment firm specializing in alternative asset management services. Its renewable power and transition business includes the operates in the hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed generation, and sustainable solution sector. The company's infrastructure business engages in the utilities, transport, midstream, and data infrastructure sectors.