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

American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of 0.34 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from American Assets Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

American Assets Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 22.7% per year over the last three years. American Assets Trust has a 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. 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 Performance

NYSE:AAT opened at $22.40 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.36. 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.

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.41. American Assets Trust had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 5.08%. Research analysts anticipate that American Assets Trust will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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, October 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of American Assets Trust from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insider Transactions at American Assets Trust

In other news, COO Adam Wyll sold 30,238 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.22, for a total transaction 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 $1,286,690.90. This trade represents a 39.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 37.32% of the company’s stock.

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.