Empowered Funds LLC Invests $312,000 in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 17,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 211,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,706,000 after acquiring an additional 8,283 shares during the period. Vanderbilt University raised its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 58,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 107,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 20,886 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 557,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,769,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,461,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,547,000 after buying an additional 226,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Host Hotels & Resorts has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.54.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

Shares of HST opened at $16.77 on Friday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a one year low of $15.71 and a one year high of $21.31. The company has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.22 and a 200-day moving average of $17.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 2.90.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.29. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.67%.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.