Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $12.14 and last traded at $12.14, with a volume of 956422 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sunstone Hotel Investors has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.42.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Up 9.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.26.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.61 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The firm’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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is 42.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunstone Hotel Investors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SHO. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 584.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 3,680 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the third quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.