Short Interest in Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) Drops By 10.6%

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,280,000 shares, a drop of 10.6% from the November 30th total of 8,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 988,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.4 days. Currently, 5.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Brookfield Asset Management in the third quarter valued at $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 368.3% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Brookfield Asset Management by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BAM. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Asset Management currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.54.

Brookfield Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAM traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $54.19. The stock had a trading volume of 462,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,213,455. Brookfield Asset Management has a 1 year low of $37.19 and a 1 year high of $59.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $55.83 and its 200-day moving average is $47.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.41.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Brookfield Asset Management had a return on equity of 85.03% and a net margin of 49.69%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Asset Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Brookfield Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 134.51%.

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.