Vestcor Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 93.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250,964 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HST. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 12,859 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 102,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 7,672 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,091,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,814,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $561,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,775,000. 98.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

Shares of HST opened at $15.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.38. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.47 and a 12 month high of $21.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.29. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.23%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is 80.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HST shares. Compass Point cut Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group cut 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Host Hotels & Resorts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.12.

Host Hotels & Resorts 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.