American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 838,300 shares, a decrease of 23.1% from the September 15th total of 1,090,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 256,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Assets Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAT. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Assets Trust by 130.3% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Assets Trust in the first quarter valued at about $205,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Assets Trust by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Assets Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Assets Trust by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. 90.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Assets Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:AAT opened at $27.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. American Assets Trust has a 1 year low of $17.15 and a 1 year high of $27.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.30 and a 200-day moving average of $23.64.

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.33). American Assets Trust had a net margin of 12.00% and a return on equity of 4.62%. The business had revenue of $110.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Assets Trust will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Assets Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. American Assets Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of American Assets Trust from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th.

About American Assets Trust

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.