Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) Stock

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $23.00 to $24.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Separately, Mizuho upped their price objective 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.

American Assets Trust Stock Performance

Shares of American Assets Trust stock opened at $26.64 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.19. American Assets Trust has a one year low of $18.00 and a one year high of $28.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 8.53 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27 and a beta of 1.30.

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Assets Trust will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Assets Trust Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. American Assets Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAT. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in American Assets Trust by 130.3% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in American Assets Trust by 516.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Assets Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $228,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Assets Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.43% of the company’s stock.

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.