Short Interest in Brookfield Co. (NYSE:BN) Expands By 27.3%

Brookfield Co. (NYSE:BN) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,760,000 shares, a growth of 27.3% from the February 13th total of 6,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BN. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Brookfield from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Brookfield from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Brookfield in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Brookfield from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brookfield currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Brookfield Stock Performance

NYSE BN opened at $52.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 173.96 and a beta of 1.65. Brookfield has a 12-month low of $38.18 and a 12-month high of $62.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.91.

Brookfield (NYSE:BN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.13. Brookfield had a net margin of 0.75% and a return on equity of 3.93%. Analysts anticipate that Brookfield will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Brookfield’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.00%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 463,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,594,000 after acquiring an additional 263,375 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 183,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,764,000 after acquiring an additional 9,915 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,029,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,670,000 after acquiring an additional 591,757 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,564,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,507,000 after acquiring an additional 351,231 shares during the period. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 409,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,754,000 after acquiring an additional 142,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.60% of the company’s stock.

About Brookfield

Brookfield Corporation is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients.