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

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in 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. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Brookfield Asset Management by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 42,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,284,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Sky Capital Consultants Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,363,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. HSBC upgraded shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $63.00 to $62.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Asset Management currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.71.

Brookfield Asset Management Price Performance

BAM opened at $48.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $21.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.18. Brookfield Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $37.29 and a fifty-two week high of $62.61.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Asset Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is an increase from Brookfield Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Brookfield Asset Management’s payout ratio is 132.58%.

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.