Short Interest in American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) Drops By 23.1%

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

American Assets Trust Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of AAT stock opened at $27.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55 and a beta of 1.30. American Assets Trust has a 1 year low of $17.15 and a 1 year high of $27.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.64. 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 (NYSE:AAT) last posted 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 return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 12.00%. The company had revenue of $110.89 million for 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 predict that American Assets Trust will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

American Assets Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued 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 of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. American Assets Trust’s payout ratio is presently 150.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAT. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of American Assets Trust by 277.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 80,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after buying an additional 58,803 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in American Assets Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $512,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of American Assets Trust by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in American Assets Trust in the second quarter valued at $837,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Assets Trust by 12.1% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. 90.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.