Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.44 Per Share

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.4375 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Brookfield Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Brookfield Asset Management has a payout ratio of 76.4% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities analysts expect Brookfield Asset Management to earn $1.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 86.9%.

Brookfield Asset Management Price Performance

NYSE BAM traded up $2.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.60. The stock had a trading volume of 3,590,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,093. Brookfield Asset Management has a 1 year low of $37.29 and a 1 year high of $62.61. The stock has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a PE ratio of 50.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.89.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) (TSE:BAM.A) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 49.69% and a return on equity of 85.03%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brookfield Asset Management will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BAM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Asset Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.71.

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.