Metis Global Partners LLC Acquires 4,804 Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 29.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,804 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 572.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 219,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 186,413 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 170.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 199,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after buying an additional 125,809 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 11.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,120,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,566,000 after buying an additional 116,058 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the second quarter worth about $303,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 368.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,767,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,917 shares during the period. 99.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Shares of SHO stock opened at $10.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.35 and a 200-day moving average of $10.25. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.39 and a 52 week high of $11.59.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 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 $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s payout ratio is currently 44.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.50 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sunstone Hotel Investors presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.42.

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.