Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 2,448 Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 442.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,448 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors were worth $36,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SHO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,775,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,558 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $11,566,000 after acquiring an additional 116,058 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $573,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,220,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 2.1% during the 3rd 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SHO. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.71.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Up 0.1 %

Sunstone Hotel Investors stock opened at $9.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.19. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.39 and a 52 week high of $12.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.91. 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 (NYSE:SHO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 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 $214.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 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 Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 257.14%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Company 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.