Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.42.

Several research firms have weighed in on SHO. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunstone Hotel Investors

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 368.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,767,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,917 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 460.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,414,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,596,000 after buying an additional 1,161,792 shares in the last quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 976.5% during the third quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 1,238,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,776,000 after buying an additional 1,123,001 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 318.0% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,367,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,299,000 after buying an additional 1,039,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SHO opened at $10.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.35 and a 200-day moving average of $10.25. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 12 month low of $9.39 and a 12 month high of $11.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.25.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 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 $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s payout ratio is 44.74%.

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.