Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) Receives Underweight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reiterated their underweight rating on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $10.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on SHO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.86.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors stock opened at $11.60 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.65. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 12-month low of $9.39 and a 12-month high of $12.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.21.

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). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The firm had revenue of $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunstone Hotel Investors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SHO. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 114.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised 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 valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 3,680 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. 99.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.