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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $52.00 target price on Brookfield Asset Management in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Brookfield Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.65.

Brookfield Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of Brookfield Asset Management stock traded up $0.95 during trading on Monday, reaching $43.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,549,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,573,002. Brookfield Asset Management has a one year low of $41.78 and a one year high of $64.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.28. The firm has a market cap of $71.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.06. Brookfield Asset Management had a net margin of 51.59% and a return on equity of 29.81%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Brookfield Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Brookfield Asset Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,387,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,304,000 after buying an additional 20,586 shares during the period. Midway Capital Research & Management bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth about $829,000. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,843,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Brookfield Asset Management by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 4,360 shares during the period. 68.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.