Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Raises Position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO - Free Report) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 610,149 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 46,402 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.30% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $6,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 11.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,120,710 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,566,000 after purchasing an additional 116,058 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $573,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 170.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 199,580 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 125,809 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,220,000. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the second quarter worth $303,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sunstone Hotel Investors currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.83.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Shares of SHO traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,626,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,171,140. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.38. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.39 and a fifty-two week high of $12.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The firm had revenue of $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The company's revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Sunstone Hotel Investors's 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.