Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Short Interest Update

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 34,430,000 shares, a decline of 9.9% from the July 15th total of 38,210,000 shares. Approximately 5.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 212.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Compass Point lowered shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $18.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.12.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Monday, hitting $16.83. 7,257,696 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,467,605. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 6.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.81. The firm has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.33. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 52-week low of $14.92 and a 52-week high of $21.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.43%.

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.