First Trust Advisors LP Increases Position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO - Free Report) by 167.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 449,678 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 281,522 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.22% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $5,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 645.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,355,572 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $98,929,000 after buying an additional 7,234,862 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,775,533 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $49,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,558 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 4,686,489 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,488,000 after purchasing an additional 851,104 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,156,930 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $49,218,000 after purchasing an additional 74,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,387,239 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,265,000 after purchasing an additional 58,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on SHO shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $12.00 to $8.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sunstone Hotel Investors has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.44.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

NYSE:SHO traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.31. The stock had a trading volume of 386,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,335,870. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.49. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.45 and a 12-month high of $12.41.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.03. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The company's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Sunstone Hotel Investors's dividend payout ratio is currently 257.14%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors 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.