Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 684,320 Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. $SHO

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,590,217 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 684,320 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 15.20% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $287,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the 1st quarter worth $42,838,000. GRS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter worth $22,980,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter worth $17,309,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,567,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $77,760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 45.9% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,576,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125,543 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of SHO opened at $9.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 450.23, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.23. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.45 and a twelve month high of $12.41.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $259.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.68 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 2.15% and a return on equity of 1.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,800.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on SHO shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $8.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sunstone Hotel Investors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.07.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors

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.