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

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 3,884 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 101% compared to the typical volume of 1,935 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,216 shares of the company's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 24,404 shares of the company's stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 2.6% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 24,842 shares of the company's stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 12,932 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 16,549 shares of the company's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HST. Compass Point cut Host Hotels & Resorts from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.90.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.70. 6,820,607 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,193,679. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 1.29. Host Hotels & Resorts has a twelve month low of $12.22 and a twelve month high of $19.37.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. The company's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.44%. Host Hotels & Resorts's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.33%.

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.