American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) Raises Dividend to $0.34 Per Share

American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from American Assets Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

American Assets Trust has increased its dividend by an average of 22.7% annually over the last three years. American Assets Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 148.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect American Assets Trust to earn $2.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.34 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.5%.

American Assets Trust Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AAT traded down $1.62 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 296,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,629. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.53 and a current ratio of 8.53. American Assets Trust has a fifty-two week low of $20.03 and a fifty-two week high of $29.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.30.

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.41. American Assets Trust had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 12.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Assets Trust will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at American Assets Trust

In other American Assets Trust news, COO Adam Wyll sold 30,238 shares of American Assets Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.22, for a total transaction of $853,316.36. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,286,690.90. The trade was a 39.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 37.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Assets Trust from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on American Assets Trust from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

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.