Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,793,005 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 437,433 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 4.37% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $82,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 11.7% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 106,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 11,145 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the 1st quarter worth approximately $200,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 47.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the first quarter worth $217,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 99.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SHO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $8.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Sunstone Hotel Investors from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.31.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SHO traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.93. 2,102,200 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,533,844. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.86. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.45 and a 52-week high of $12.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 89.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.25.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $234.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.34 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 1.93%. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Sunstone Hotel Investors's dividend payout ratio is 360.00%.

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.