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

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.86.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SHO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Down 1.3 %

SHO opened at $11.19 on Tuesday. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 1-year low of $9.39 and a 1-year high of $12.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The company’s revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunstone Hotel Investors

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 31.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,775,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,558 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 11.6% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 116,058 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the third quarter worth $573,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the third quarter valued at $3,220,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,247,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,169,000 after buying an additional 109,327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

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.