Aris Water Solutions (NYSE:ARIS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Aris Water Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:ARIS) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 726,091 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 490,398 shares.The stock last traded at $29.35 and had previously closed at $29.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARIS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aris Water Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price target (up from $18.00) on shares of Aris Water Solutions in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Aris Water Solutions from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Aris Water Solutions from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Aris Water Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Aris Water Solutions Stock Up 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.82 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.67 and its 200 day moving average is $23.09.

Aris Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Aris Water Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Aris Water Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 70.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aris Water Solutions

In related news, CFO Stephan E. Tompsett sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 140,509 shares in the company, valued at $4,215,270. The trade was a 12.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jeffrey K. Hunt sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.92, for a total value of $289,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,296,396.84. This represents a 18.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 948,881 shares of company stock valued at $24,246,969 in the last 90 days. 23.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aris Water Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Aris Water Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Aris Water Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Aris Water Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Aris Water Solutions during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Aris Water Solutions during the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. 39.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Aris Water Solutions

Aris Water Solutions, Inc, an environmental infrastructure and solutions company, provides water handling and recycling solutions. The company's produced water handling business gathers, transports, unless recycled, and handles produced water generated from oil and natural gas production. Its water solutions business develops and operates recycling facilities to treat, store, and recycle produced water.