Aris Water Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:ARIS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Aris Water Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:ARIS) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,630,000 shares, a growth of 46.9% from the March 15th total of 1,790,000 shares. Currently, 9.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 974,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Aris Water Solutions Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Aris Water Solutions stock opened at $25.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Aris Water Solutions has a 12-month low of $13.24 and a 12-month high of $33.95.

Aris Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were 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 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Aris Water Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 70.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ARIS. Evercore ISI cut shares of Aris Water Solutions from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Aris Water Solutions from $21.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Aris Water Solutions from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut Aris Water Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of Aris Water Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aris Water Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aris Water Solutions

In other news, insider Nicholas A. Patterson sold 8,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.60, for a total value of $253,949.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,781,776.80. This trade represents a 12.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Yorktown Energy Partners Xi, L sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $27,700,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,604 shares of company stock valued at $29,817,145. 23.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aris Water Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inscription Capital LLC acquired a new position in Aris Water Solutions during the first quarter worth about $449,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Aris Water Solutions by 233.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 27,246 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aris Water Solutions by 3,062.6% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,522 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aris Water Solutions by 4,584.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 29,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 28,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Aris Water Solutions by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 965,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,112,000 after buying an additional 9,395 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.71% of the company’s stock.

About Aris Water Solutions

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.