Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,380,000 shares, a drop of 17.7% from the December 15th total of 12,610,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Sunstone Hotel Investors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHO. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the second quarter worth about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 114.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 584.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 3,680 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.86.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

SHO traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $11.73. 2,600,168 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,529,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 1 year low of $9.39 and a 1 year high of $12.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.21.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The business had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.61 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.74%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Company Profile

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that as of the date of this release owns 14 hotels comprised of 6,675 rooms, the majority of which are operated under nationally recognized brands. Sunstone's strategy is to create long-term stakeholder value through the acquisition, active ownership, and disposition of well-located hotel and resort real estate.