Brookfield Asset Management Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BAM)

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 3,530 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 155% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,382 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BAM shares. Morgan Stanley set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Loop Capital set a $60.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research raised Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Asset Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.65.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Asset Management

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Brookfield Asset Management by 72.6% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,904,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642,375 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,425,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $991,677,000 after purchasing an additional 253,789 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 78.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 126,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,168,000 after buying an additional 55,225 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 65.6% in the third quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 254,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,463,000 after buying an additional 100,713 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 18.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 465,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,511,000 after buying an additional 72,600 shares during the period. 68.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brookfield Asset Management Stock Up 2.2%

BAM traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.88. 1,549,079 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,573,002. Brookfield Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $41.78 and a fifty-two week high of $64.10. The company has a market cap of $71.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.28.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Brookfield Asset Management had a net margin of 51.59% and a return on equity of 29.81%. As a group, analysts forecast that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Asset Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.5025 per share. This is a boost from Brookfield Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Brookfield Asset Management’s payout ratio is presently 132.24%.

About Brookfield Asset Management

Brookfield Asset Management is a global alternative asset manager headquartered in Toronto, Canada, that specializes in investments in real assets and related private equity and credit strategies. The firm acquires, manages and develops assets in sectors such as real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and private equity, seeking long-term value through active asset management and operational improvements. Brookfield structures and manages commingled funds, listed partnerships and separate accounts for institutional and retail investors.

The company’s products and services include fund management across equity and debt strategies, direct asset ownership and operations, property and facilities management, and capital markets solutions.