Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $15.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $16.00.

A number of other analysts have also commented on HST. Raymond James dropped their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Compass Point lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.54.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $14.69 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.31. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 52-week low of $14.25 and a 52-week high of $20.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.29. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.45%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is presently 80.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. National Pension Service bought a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 202.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.