Versor Investments LP Grows Stock Position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 94.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,522 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,922 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 34.4% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 5,124 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the 1st quarter worth $205,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 35.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 40,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 10,448 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the first quarter valued at $749,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 14.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 41,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,000 after buying an additional 5,280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.29.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

HST stock opened at $18.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.32. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.71 and a 12-month high of $21.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 4.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.73.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.24). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Host Hotels & Resorts’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is 77.67%.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.