Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.71.

A number of research firms have recently commented on SHO. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on 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 decreased their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Institutional Trading of Sunstone Hotel Investors

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SHO. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 628,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,447,000 after purchasing an additional 18,792 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,309,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 200.2% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 127,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after buying an additional 84,824 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Up 0.7 %

Sunstone Hotel Investors stock opened at $10.57 on Friday. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 12 month low of $9.39 and a 12 month high of $12.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The company had revenue of $214.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.17 million. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s payout ratio is 257.14%.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors

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.