Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.09 (NYSE:SHO)

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Sunstone Hotel Investors has a payout ratio of 120.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Sunstone Hotel Investors to earn $0.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.1%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:SHO traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,030,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,030,805. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.88. 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 capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.20. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 12 month low of $9.39 and a 12 month high of $12.41.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $214.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.17 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. Equities analysts predict that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sunstone Hotel Investors currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.71.

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.