American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) Short Interest Down 13.8% in December

American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) saw a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 742,100 shares, a decrease of 13.8% from the December 15th total of 860,700 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 251,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on American Assets Trust from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Assets Trust from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Assets Trust

In other news, COO Adam Wyll sold 30,238 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.22, for a total value of $853,316.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 37.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Assets Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in American Assets Trust by 34.8% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of American Assets Trust by 131.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of American Assets Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $103,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Assets Trust by 516.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 4,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan acquired a new stake in American Assets Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors own 90.43% of the company’s stock.

American Assets Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AAT traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 269,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,690. 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 1-year low of $20.03 and a 1-year high of $29.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26 and a beta of 1.31.

American Assets Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. American Assets Trust’s payout ratio is 147.25%.

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.