American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) Short Interest Down 8.2% in July

American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,010,000 shares, a decrease of 8.2% from the July 15th total of 1,100,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 294,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of American Assets Trust from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday.

American Assets Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AAT traded up $0.46 during trading on Monday, hitting $25.84. 91,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 296,306. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.19. American Assets Trust has a 12-month low of $17.15 and a 12-month high of $27.55.

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.33). American Assets Trust had a return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 12.00%. The firm had revenue of $110.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Assets Trust will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

American Assets Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 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 5.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. American Assets Trust’s payout ratio is currently 150.56%.

Institutional Trading of American Assets Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AAT. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in American Assets Trust by 1,140.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 175,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 161,396 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in American Assets Trust by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 35,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 23,452 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in American Assets Trust by 633.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 166,411 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,644,000 after purchasing an additional 143,707 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in American Assets Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $807,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Assets Trust in the first quarter worth about $1,776,000. 90.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.