29,357 Shares in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Acquired by Vestcor Inc

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors, purchasing 29,357 shares valued at approximately $276,000 during the first quarter.
• Sunstone Hotel Investors reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.21 for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.18, while the firm's revenue increased by 7.8% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.1%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 360.00%.

Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 29,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 47.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 805.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 5,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 140.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 11,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 6,634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SHO shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $8.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.07.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Up 0.3%

SHO traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $8.79. 2,146,480 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,381,333. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.86 and a 200 day moving average of $9.39. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.45 and a 12-month high of $12.41.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $259.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.68 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 1.93%. Sunstone Hotel Investors's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Sunstone Hotel Investors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,800.00%.

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.