US Bancorp DE Increases Position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

US Bancorp DE raised its position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,423 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,191 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP increased its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 72,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 9,400 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter worth $430,000. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter worth $1,022,000. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 489,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,574,000 after buying an additional 138,164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $15.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 1.91. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.26 and a 1 year high of $21.27.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Equities analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on HST. Raymond James dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Compass Point lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.21.

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.