Short Interest in Brookfield Co. (NYSE:BN) Grows By 28.0%

Brookfield Co. (NYSE:BN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,210,000 shares, an increase of 28.0% from the February 28th total of 8,760,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on BN shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Brookfield from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Brookfield in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Brookfield from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brookfield by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,029,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,670,000 after purchasing an additional 591,757 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Brookfield in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,485,000. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Brookfield by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 287,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,499,000 after buying an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Brookfield by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 252,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,512,000 after buying an additional 23,159 shares during the period. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Brookfield by 181.1% during the 3rd quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 13,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 9,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.60% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:BN opened at $52.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.29. Brookfield has a 1-year low of $38.18 and a 1-year high of $62.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.72 and a beta of 1.65.

Brookfield (NYSE:BN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.13. Brookfield had a return on equity of 3.93% and a net margin of 0.75%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brookfield will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Brookfield’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.00%.

About Brookfield

Brookfield Corporation is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients.