Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.09 (NYSE:SHO)

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Sunstone Hotel Investors has increased its dividend payment by an average of 68.7% annually over the last three years. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a payout ratio of 133.3% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Sunstone Hotel Investors to earn $0.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.1%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Sunstone Hotel Investors stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $10.45. 113,588 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,037,964. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 3.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.25. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 1 year low of $9.39 and a 1 year high of $11.59.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The firm had revenue of $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SHO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.42.

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.