Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.12.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HST shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,056,000 after purchasing an additional 950,431 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $876,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,932,928 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at $807,878,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,047,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,076,000 after purchasing an additional 643,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,555,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,171,000 after purchasing an additional 4,460,468 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of HST stock opened at $14.96 on Friday. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 12 month low of $14.47 and a 12 month high of $21.27. The stock has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.32.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 10.37%. On average, research analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.35%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.81%.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

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.