Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Makes New Investment in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $190,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 442.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,448 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 805.2% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 5,701 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 140.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 11,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 6,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 4th quarter worth $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE SHO opened at $8.92 on Friday. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.45 and a 12-month high of $12.41. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.39.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $234.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.34 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 360.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $12.00 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sunstone Hotel Investors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.25.

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.