Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.96.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HST shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point raised Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HST opened at $16.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $11.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 52 week low of $15.71 and a 52 week high of $21.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.53.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.24). Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Host Hotels & Resorts’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.67%.

Institutional Trading of Host Hotels & Resorts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,056,000 after buying an additional 950,431 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,902,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,698,000 after purchasing an additional 180,904 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 5,466,629 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,300,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,296,000 after purchasing an additional 181,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 5,811,722 shares during the last quarter. 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.