Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Short Interest Up 11.7% in November

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,240,000 shares, an increase of 11.7% from the October 31st total of 37,800,000 shares. Currently, 6.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

NASDAQ HST opened at $18.52 on Wednesday. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 52 week low of $15.71 and a 52 week high of $21.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.66.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HST. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Compass Point raised Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.32.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 537.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,893,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,811,722 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 66.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,637,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,017,000 after buying an additional 5,466,629 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 207.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,198,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,692,000 after buying an additional 1,484,370 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 20.2% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 7,962,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,169,000 after buying an additional 1,339,458 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 92.9% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,764,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331,407 shares during the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.