Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) Reaches New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $8.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Sunstone Hotel Investors traded as low as $7.45 and last traded at $7.64, with a volume of 218536 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.72.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on SHO. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunstone Hotel Investors

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 90.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 359,767 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,713,000 after buying an additional 170,821 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 610,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,297,000 after acquiring an additional 46,402 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 304.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 343,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,540,000 after buying an additional 258,302 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $54,169,000 after purchasing an additional 109,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,120,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,566,000 after acquiring an additional 116,058 shares during the last quarter. 99.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.16.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The company had revenue of $214.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.17 million. On average, analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. 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 Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 257.14%.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors

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.