Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) Raises Dividend to $0.44 Per Share

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.4375 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Brookfield Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Brookfield Asset Management has a dividend payout ratio of 76.4% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Brookfield Asset Management to earn $1.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 86.9%.

Brookfield Asset Management Stock Up 4.5 %

BAM stock traded up $2.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $57.60. The company had a trading volume of 3,590,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,093. The company has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.46. Brookfield Asset Management has a 12-month low of $37.29 and a 12-month high of $62.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.89.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. Brookfield Asset Management had a net margin of 49.69% and a return on equity of 85.03%. As a group, analysts expect that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BAM. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.71.

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.