Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 645.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,355,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 7,234,862 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 4.16% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $98,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 114.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 99.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.71.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Price Performance

SHO stock opened at $11.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.20. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.39 and a twelve month high of $12.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.85. 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 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.