Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Announces $0.09 Quarterly Dividend

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Sunstone Hotel Investors has a dividend payout ratio of 120.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Sunstone Hotel Investors to earn $0.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.1%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Down 0.7 %

SHO stock opened at $10.58 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a fifty-two week low of $9.39 and a fifty-two week high of $12.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.89. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.20.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $214.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.17 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SHO. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock 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 given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.71.

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.