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

Key Points

• Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from seven research firms, with price targets ranging from $7.00 to $11.00.
• The company reported a Q1 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.21, exceeding analysts' expectations, and a quarterly revenue increase of 7.8% compared to the previous year.
• Sunstone declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, representing a yield of 4.01%, although its payout ratio is notably high at 360.00%.

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.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.07.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SHO shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $8.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $12.00 to $8.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America upgraded 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 research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunstone Hotel Investors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 4th quarter valued at $1,239,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the fourth quarter valued at $475,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 28,329 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the 4th quarter worth about $8,659,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 271,125 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 17,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.37% of the company's stock.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Down 0.4%

SHO stock opened at $8.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 89.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.25. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 12 month low of $7.45 and a 12 month high of $12.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.50.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $234.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.34 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Sunstone Hotel Investors's payout ratio is presently 360.00%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Company Profile

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.

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