Short Interest in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Expands By 8.8%

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 38,690,000 shares, an increase of 8.8% from the December 15th total of 35,570,000 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HST. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 4.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 81,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after buying an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 27.1% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 44.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HST shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.04.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ HST opened at $17.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.63. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 12 month low of $15.71 and a 12 month high of $21.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.24). Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.67%.

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.