Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $210,000 Position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HST. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 57.5% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the third quarter worth $35,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 186.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares during the period. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HST. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank of America raised Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

NASDAQ HST traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $18.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,952,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,923,556. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.88. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.92 and a 1 year high of $21.31. The company has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.25). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 13.93%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is presently 76.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $591,981.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,225,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,826,140.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.