Host Hotels & Resorts Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:HST)

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 8,043 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 249% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,303 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HST. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 800,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,371,000 after acquiring an additional 29,983 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 262.8% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 748,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,642,000 after purchasing an additional 542,513 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 15.7% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 89,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 12,120 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the first quarter valued at approximately $18,088,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 54.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,365,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,401,000 after purchasing an additional 483,478 shares during the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on HST. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Compass Point lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.96.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:HST opened at $16.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 52-week low of $12.22 and a 52-week high of $19.37.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 11.66% and a return on equity of 10.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is currently 83.33%.

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.