Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,899,205 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,261,877 shares during the quarter. Host Hotels & Resorts makes up approximately 1.2% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $278,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 44.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 135,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 14,088 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 12.0% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 11,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 4.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 188,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HST shares. Raymond James reduced their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.54.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $16.33 on Monday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $21.27. The company has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 1.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.47.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 10.37%. On average, analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.81%.

Host Hotels & Resorts 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.