Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Host Hotels & Resorts Put Options (NASDAQ:HST)

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. UBS Group cut their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Compass Point downgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.90.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HST traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.41. 4,939,325 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,181,952. Host Hotels & Resorts has a one year low of $12.22 and a one year high of $19.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 1.91. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $14.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 1.29.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.55 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. The firm'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 company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HST. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 50,002,916 shares of the company's stock worth $876,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,932,928 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the 4th quarter worth $807,878,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,047,730 shares of the company's stock worth $649,076,000 after buying an additional 643,450 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,503,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,253,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $336,539,000 after buying an additional 350,634 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.52% of the company's stock.

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.