Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) Short Interest Up 26.7% in February

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,660,000 shares, an increase of 26.7% from the February 13th total of 10,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.7 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Brookfield Asset Management from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Brookfield Asset Management from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Brookfield Asset Management from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Asset Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Asset Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Brookfield Asset Management by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,867,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $419,400,000 after acquiring an additional 24,409 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Brookfield Asset Management by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 589,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,881,000 after purchasing an additional 216,591 shares in the last quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its stake in Brookfield Asset Management by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 497,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,507,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Brookfield Asset Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 29,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 68.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brookfield Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAM traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $47.90. 1,375,877 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,292,968. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.07. Brookfield Asset Management has a 52 week low of $37.29 and a 52 week high of $62.61.

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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This is an increase from Brookfield Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Brookfield Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 132.58%.

Brookfield Asset Management Company Profile

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.