Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,048,090 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180,346 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $36,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 10,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 27,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 81,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

NASDAQ HST opened at $18.06 on Tuesday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.71 and a 1-year high of $21.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.73. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 4.55.

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

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target 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. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Compass Point upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.29.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

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.