600,000 Shares in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Bought by Vision Capital Corp

Key Points

• Vision Capital Corp acquired 600,000 shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, valued at approximately $5.6 million, making it the 13th largest holding in its investment portfolio.
• Sunstone Hotel Investors announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, translating to a 4.0% yield and a substantial payout ratio of 1,800.00%.
• Sunstone's recent earnings report showed a profit of $0.28 per share, exceeding estimates, with revenues up 5.0% compared to the previous year.

Vision Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 600,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $5,646,000. Sunstone Hotel Investors makes up 1.3% of Vision Capital Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Vision Capital Corp owned approximately 0.30% of Sunstone Hotel Investors at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 5.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,793,005 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $82,742,000 after purchasing an additional 437,433 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,567,535 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $77,760,000 after buying an additional 1,229,769 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,838,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 45.9% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,576,897 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,659,000 after buying an additional 1,125,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,159,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $37,407,000 after buying an additional 538,089 shares during the last quarter. 99.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 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 report on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.07.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

SHO stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.00. 4,008,275 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,980,341. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 450.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.45 and a twelve month high of $12.41.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $259.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.68 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 2.15% and a return on equity of 1.12%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Sunstone Hotel Investors's dividend payout ratio is 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.