Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) Sets New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $15.66 and last traded at $15.72, with a volume of 1737117 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.54.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.93 and its 200-day moving average is $17.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 2.90.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 10.37%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HST. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,056,000 after buying an additional 950,431 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 50,002,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,932,928 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter worth $807,878,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,047,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,076,000 after acquiring an additional 643,450 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,555,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,171,000 after buying an additional 4,460,468 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.