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

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.04.

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

Institutional Trading of Host Hotels & Resorts

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HST. State Street Corp raised its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,056,000 after acquiring an additional 950,431 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,902,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,698,000 after purchasing an additional 180,904 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 66.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,637,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,017,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466,629 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,300,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,296,000 after buying an additional 181,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 11.7% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,189,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,218,000 after buying an additional 965,100 shares during the period. 98.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

HST stock opened at $17.08 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 1.31. Host Hotels & Resorts has a fifty-two week low of $15.71 and a fifty-two week high of $21.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.67%.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.