Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $10.37, but opened at $10.66. Sunstone Hotel Investors shares last traded at $10.77, with a volume of 117,956 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.42.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.37 and a 200-day moving average of $10.25.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The business’s revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.11%.

Institutional Trading of Sunstone Hotel Investors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 0.5% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 294,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,037,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 5.5% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 31,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 12.1% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 17,479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,881 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 5.8% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 36,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Company Profile

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that as of the date of this release owns 14 hotels comprised of 6,675 rooms, the majority of which are operated under nationally recognized brands. Sunstone's strategy is to create long-term stakeholder value through the acquisition, active ownership, and disposition of well-located hotel and resort real estate.