Short Interest in American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) Expands By 7.6%

American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 902,000 shares, a growth of 7.6% from the September 30th total of 838,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 245,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Assets Trust

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in American Assets Trust by 130.3% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Assets Trust by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Assets Trust by 516.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 4,838 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Assets Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $228,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Assets Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Assets Trust from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho upped their target price on American Assets Trust from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th.

American Assets Trust Price Performance

American Assets Trust stock opened at $27.32 on Friday. American Assets Trust has a 12 month low of $18.00 and a 12 month high of $28.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.87 and its 200-day moving average is $24.17. The company has a current ratio of 8.53, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.62 and a beta of 1.30.

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $110.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.66 million. American Assets Trust had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 12.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Assets Trust will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

American Assets Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. American Assets Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.25%.

American Assets Trust Company Profile

American Assets Trust, Inc is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii.