BNP Paribas Financial Markets Trims Position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 59,900 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors were worth $669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $18,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,917 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 318.0% during the 2nd 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. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,165,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,664,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 14.1% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,203,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,590,000 after acquiring an additional 148,899 shares in the last quarter. 99.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.83.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SHO opened at $12.24 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.36. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.39 and a 52 week high of $12.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 6.41 and a beta of 1.25.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.74%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Profile

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.