Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $9.39 and last traded at $9.48, with a volume of 1003458 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SHO. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.57.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Down 2.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.87. 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 (NYSE:SHO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The company had revenue of $214.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.17 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s payout ratio is 257.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SHO. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 645.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,355,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $98,929,000 after buying an additional 7,234,862 shares during the last quarter. GRS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,980,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,309,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,653,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,567,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $77,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,769 shares during the last quarter. 99.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.