Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $17.59 Million in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,003,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,586,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 202.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ HST opened at $15.30 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.38. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $21.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.30.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.23%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Compass Point downgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.12.

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.