Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) Trading Down 4.2% – Should You Sell?

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)’s share price fell 4.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $11.25 and last traded at $11.25. 526,679 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 2,126,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SHO. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.86.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Down 2.2 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.73. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.74%.

Institutional Trading of Sunstone Hotel Investors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SHO. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 170.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 199,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 125,809 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 11.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 184,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 18,938 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the second quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 10.8% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 173,058 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 16,829 shares during the last quarter. 99.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors

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.