American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) Short Interest Up 7.6% in October

American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 902,000 shares, a growth of 7.6% from the September 30th total of 838,300 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 245,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Assets Trust from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of American Assets Trust from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th.

Institutional Trading of American Assets Trust

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in American Assets Trust by 130.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of American Assets Trust by 34.8% during the 3rd 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. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 4,838 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in American Assets Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $228,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Assets Trust during the third quarter valued at about $229,000. 90.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Assets Trust Stock Performance

AAT stock traded down $0.31 on Friday, hitting $26.64. The company had a trading volume of 156,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,834. The company has a current ratio of 8.53, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. American Assets Trust has a 12-month low of $18.00 and a 12-month high of $28.44. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $26.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.19.

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.33). American Assets Trust had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $110.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $107.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Assets Trust will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Assets Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. American Assets Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.25%.

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.