Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Shares Bought by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,200 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HST. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 202.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HST shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Host Hotels & Resorts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.54.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of HST opened at $14.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 1.30. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.25 and a 52 week high of $20.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.32 and a 200-day moving average of $17.30.

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

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.81%.

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.