Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with two sell ratings, three hold ratings, and two buy ratings.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a profit of $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and indicating a 5.0% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• Sunstone has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.8%, with a high payout ratio of 1,800.00%.

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.0714.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SHO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Up 5.0%

SHO stock opened at $9.5550 on Friday. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 12-month low of $7.45 and a 12-month high of $12.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 477.99, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.18.

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

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Sunstone Hotel Investors's payout ratio is currently 1,800.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunstone Hotel Investors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SHO. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 28,329 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,239,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 468,420 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,546,000 after buying an additional 125,402 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,020,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 167.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 449,678 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,324,000 after buying an additional 281,522 shares during the period. 99.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.