Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.42.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sunstone Hotel Investors from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $10.50 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Sunstone Hotel Investors stock opened at $10.00 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 52 week low of $9.39 and a 52 week high of $11.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.25.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $224.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Sunstone Hotel Investors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunstone Hotel Investors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,326,254 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $360,114,000 after acquiring an additional 115,899 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,247,927 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $54,169,000 after purchasing an additional 109,327 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,081,978 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,126,000 after purchasing an additional 117,390 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,818,270 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,479,000 after purchasing an additional 51,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,651,189 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,731,000 after purchasing an additional 25,086 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.37% of the company's stock.

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.