Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO - Free Report) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,120,710 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 116,058 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.56% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $11,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 368.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,767,636 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $18,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,917 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 460.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,414,372 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161,792 shares during the period. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 976.5% in the third quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 1,238,002 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,776,000 after buying an additional 1,123,001 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the third quarter worth about $3,220,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 304.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 343,018 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,540,000 after acquiring an additional 258,302 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.37% of the company's stock.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors stock traded down $0.15 on Monday, reaching $11.83. 1,503,726 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,176,316. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.25. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.39 and a 1-year high of $12.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.52.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Sunstone Hotel Investors's payout ratio is currently 44.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.20.

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.