Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Short Interest Update

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 38,690,000 shares, a growth of 8.8% from the December 31st total of 35,570,000 shares. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,860,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $16.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Host Hotels & Resorts has a twelve month low of $15.71 and a twelve month high of $21.31. The company has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $17.76 and its 200 day moving average is $17.55.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.24). Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on HST. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.96.

Institutional Trading of Host Hotels & Resorts

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 342,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,090,000 after acquiring an additional 88,437 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 16.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 45,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 6,505 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 7.9% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 98,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 7,273 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the second quarter worth approximately $391,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 6.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 143,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,518,000 after acquiring an additional 8,742 shares during the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.