Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Short Interest Down 17.7% in December

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,380,000 shares, a decline of 17.7% from the December 15th total of 12,610,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Sunstone Hotel Investors

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the second quarter valued at $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 114.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 584.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 3,680 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the third quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the last quarter. 99.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.86.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Up 0.7 %

SHO opened at $11.73 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $11.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.21. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a one year low of $9.39 and a one year high of $12.41.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The company had revenue of $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.74%.

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.