Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,460,000 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the August 15th total of 10,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 11.5 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Asset Management

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAM. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Brookfield Asset Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 98.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Brookfield Asset Management by 57.6% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Brookfield Asset Management by 574.2% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Brookfield Asset Management by 368.3% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 68.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $46.00 to $45.50 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Asset Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.81.

Brookfield Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAM traded up $0.32 on Tuesday, hitting $45.54. The stock had a trading volume of 643,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,316,209. The company has a market capitalization of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.34. Brookfield Asset Management has a twelve month low of $28.35 and a twelve month high of $45.75.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). Brookfield Asset Management had a return on equity of 92.37% and a net margin of 51.29%. The firm had revenue of $916.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Asset Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Brookfield Asset Management’s payout ratio is presently 140.74%.

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.