Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Shares Acquired by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 618,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.09% of Host Hotels & Resorts worth $10,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,056,000 after acquiring an additional 950,431 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth about $807,878,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,047,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,076,000 after purchasing an additional 643,450 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,253,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,539,000 after buying an additional 350,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,899,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,554,000 after buying an additional 2,261,877 shares during the period. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ HST opened at $13.14 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.75 and a 200 day moving average of $17.11. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.27 and a 12-month high of $20.73. The stock has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.26.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 6.09%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is 80.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HST has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James cut their price objective on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Host Hotels & Resorts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.54.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.