Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.96.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HST. Compass Point raised Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Institutional Trading of Host Hotels & Resorts

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,056,000 after purchasing an additional 950,431 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,902,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,698,000 after purchasing an additional 180,904 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,466,629 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,300,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,296,000 after purchasing an additional 181,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 537.4% during 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 worth $121,318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,811,722 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

Shares of HST stock opened at $16.37 on Thursday. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 12-month low of $15.71 and a 12-month high of $21.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.53. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.24). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 12.92%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is currently 77.67%.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

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.