Host Hotels & Resorts Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:HST)

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 8,043 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 249% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,303 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on HST. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Compass Point lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Host Hotels & Resorts has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.96.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

NASDAQ HST traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $16.30. 855,985 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,721,360. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01 and a beta of 1.31. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 12-month low of $12.22 and a 12-month high of $19.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.26 and a 200 day moving average of $15.72.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.11% and a net margin of 11.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Host Hotels & Resorts's dividend payout ratio is currently 83.33%.

Institutional Trading of Host Hotels & Resorts

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 50,002,916 shares of the company's stock worth $876,115,000 after buying an additional 3,932,928 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter worth about $807,878,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,047,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $649,076,000 after purchasing an additional 643,450 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 11.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,058,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,088,000 after purchasing an additional 2,503,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,253,516 shares of the company's stock worth $336,539,000 after purchasing an additional 350,634 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.

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