Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) Price Target to $20.00

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

HST has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.54.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ HST opened at $16.77 on Tuesday. Host Hotels & Resorts has a one year low of $15.71 and a one year high of $21.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 2.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.30.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 10.72%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth $807,878,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 184.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,752,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,326,709 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 537.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,893,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,811,722 shares during the period. Rush Island Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at $99,402,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 66.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,637,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,017,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

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.