Aris Water Solutions (NYSE:ARIS) Hits New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Aris Water Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:ARIS) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $31.19 and last traded at $29.80, with a volume of 170434 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.66.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is an increase from Aris Water Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Aris Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ARIS shares. Evercore ISI downgraded Aris Water Solutions from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Aris Water Solutions from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aris Water Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Aris Water Solutions from $21.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Aris Water Solutions from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aris Water Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Aris Water Solutions Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46 and a beta of 1.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider S Corp Gable sold 331,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.16, for a total value of $8,332,513.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,268,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,076,944.44. This trade represents a 12.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Delaware Energy Llc sold 3,223,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $83,202,922.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,159,678 shares of company stock worth $106,807,774 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 22.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Aris Water Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,663,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Aris Water Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,828,000. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in Aris Water Solutions by 70,079.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 349,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,370,000 after purchasing an additional 348,994 shares in the last quarter. NBW Capital LLC lifted its stake in Aris Water Solutions by 1,191.8% in the 4th quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 263,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,000 after purchasing an additional 242,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Aris Water Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,717,000. 39.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aris Water Solutions Company Profile

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.