Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Shares Acquired by Naviter Wealth LLC

Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 50,665 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,708 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $1,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HST. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 50,275,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $807,923,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,578 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 22,313,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,576,000 after buying an additional 310,079 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,142,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,128,000 after purchasing an additional 438,014 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,635,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,846,000 after purchasing an additional 68,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 36.1% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 5,971,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,963,000 after buying an additional 1,582,874 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $18.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Host Hotels & Resorts has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.33.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $19.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.92 and a 52-week high of $21.31. The firm has a market cap of $13.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.96.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.25). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is a positive change from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.92%.

Insider Activity at Host Hotels & Resorts

In other Host Hotels & Resorts news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $591,981.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,225,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,826,140.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.