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

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.04.

HST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Compass Point raised shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Up 0.7 %

HST stock opened at $17.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.65. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 12 month low of $15.71 and a 12 month high of $21.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 12.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.94 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 Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HST. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 606,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,668,000 after buying an additional 113,761 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 123.4% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 65,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 36,278 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $540,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 637,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,351,000 after purchasing an additional 32,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 258,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,651,000 after purchasing an additional 34,977 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.